Ghosn Earns $12.3 Million as Nissan CEO

Nissan Motor Co. says it paid CEO Carlos Ghosn 987 million yen (€9.9 million) in salary and bonus for the fiscal year ended March 31, up less than 1% from the previous year.

That compensation does not include stock options that Nissan granted him, which will be disclosed later this week, or his compensation as CEO of alliance partner Renault SA.

Ghosn's Nissan salary and bonus make him Japan's highest-paid executive. His pay far exceeds that of Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda, who made 136 million yen (€1.4 million) and Honda Motor Co. President Takanobu Ito, who received 123 million yen (€1.2 million).

Ghosn earned the highest profit among Japanese carmakers in the last fiscal year as the company bounced back faster that Honda and Toyota from natural disasters in Asia.

Ghosn defends his pay as below worldwide standards for industrial executives. Nissan cites New York City-based human resources firm Towers Watson, which says CEO pay last year at large global automakers averaged $17.5 million (€14 million). That average includes compensation of $29.5 million (€23.6 million) to Ford's Alan Mulally and €17.5 million to Volkswagen's Martin Winterkorn.