Kinder Morgan’s CEO has voluntarily taken $1 in salary for a very long time. The chief operating officer, Steven Kean, looks like he will follow in his boss’ footsteps. Kean will still get paid stock so his overall compensation won’t be as low as Richard Kinder’s. Still, I think it reflects very well on management’s integrity. From the proxy statement:
In 2013, Mr. Kean made a similar request to Mr. Kinder to change his annual base salary to $1. Mr. Kean also requested that he receive no annual bonus from us or any of our affiliates. As a result, Mr. Kean’s total compensation consists of a restricted stock grant received in 2013 which is subject to six-year cliff vesting, dividend equivalents paid on that restricted stock, and benefits available to our U.S. employees generally (such as healthcare, life insurance and 401(k) plan benefits). There are no plans at this time to grant additional restricted stock to Mr. Kean until the vesting terms of his 2013 grant have been met.
