No Bob Allens here, Big Three CEOs take home less

It's a non-event on the moral-outrage register. GM's John F. Smith Jr., Ford's Alex Trotman and Chrysler's Robert J. Eaton, earn $5.6 million, $5 million and $4.2 million, respectively. Not bad for a year's work, to be sure, but less than each Big Three chairman earned in 1994, despite GM's bodacious $6.9 billion bottom line, up 41% from a year earlier, and a 28% runup in its common stock price. Mr. Smith exercises no stock options, a major reason his total package drops. Yet his bonus shrinks from $1.925 million to $1.75 million. Why? Profits for '95 still fall below targets set by GM's demanding board of directors. Despite the unprecedented bull market on Wall Street last year, none of the three cashes in any options. One interesting tidbit tucked away in Chrysler's proxy: Mr. Eaton holds options worth $13.2 million at year's end. And they're worth even more today. It pays to keep Kirk Kerkorian happy and at bay.