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Contrary to much popular belief, it appears the guys (and gals) at the top have been feeling the heat of the recent recession. Mercer, an independent company, performed a study that examined CEO salaries for a number of corporations ranging from large — companies making more than $40 billion a year — to small — companies making a scant $1.2 billion a year — and found that, in general, salaries for CEOs were going down.

Fortunately for those aspiring CEOs out there, the average only dropped to an average of $14 million a year, which really isn’t so bad considering the current financial situation. It appears that a major reason for the declining wage company CEOs are receiving has been investor demand that CEO’s compensation be tied to company performance. Sure, AIG company reps will still be taking multimillion-dollar company vacations on yachts while getting bailed out, and sure CEOs for US automakers will still be jetting around the country on their private planes, but it’s at least nice to know that everyone is feeling the brunt of this financial crisis together.

The most popular brand of tying CEO compensation to performance is via long term equity. The study also found that cash incentives were down close to 50 percent. While people in the US earning less money is never a good thing and certainly never to be celebrated, isn’t it nice to know that, at least for now, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies are being paid based on how well they do their jobs?

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