CEO Salary — Deere-Style…

Deere & Co., Moline, IL, Chief Executive Robert W. Lane’s annual compensation rose 10% to $16.28 million in fiscal 2008, when the farm equipment maker’s profit soared to record levels, the Associated Press reports.

Lane, also the company’s chairman and president, received a salary of $1.44 million for the year, according to a regulatory filing. But the bulk of his compensation came from non-equity incentives totaling $6.93 million and stock and options valued at $7.40 million at the time they were awarded. Lane also received $442,490 in other compensation, including $401,732 for personal use of the company’s aircraft. Also included in Lane’s compensation package was $77,827 in above-market returns on deferred compensation.

Deere said its fiscal 2008 profit climbed 12.6% to a record $2.05 billion, from $1.82 billion, the previous year. Deere said it saw more than half its agricultural equipment sales come from markets outside the U.S. and Canada. Deere forecast lower earnings in fiscal 2009, citing the global economic downturn, with equipment sales expected to remain virtually flat.