Isenberg, Jeffries Took Home Huge Paydays While Their Companies' Shares Plummeted

Which CEOs (outside of the financial industry) made the most money in 2008, despite delivering absolutely miserable returns to their shareholders?

According to compensation firm "The Corporate Library", two CEOs really stood out last year, having received an egregious amount of money while watching the publicly traded shares of their companies fall to the earth.

Those two men were:

1. Eugene M. Isenberg (CEO of Nabors Industries)

2. Michael S. Jeffries (CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch)

Isenberg raked in an eye-popping $79.3 million dollars in compensation last year, while Jeffries hauled in an equally stomach-turning $71.8 million.

Nabors Industries (NBR) opened 2008 at $27.60 per share, and ended up closing the year at $11.97.

Abercrombie & Fitch, on the other hand, opened 2008 at $79.64 and ended up closing the year at $23.07.

My question - where is Stephen Schwarzman on this list? The CEO of the Blackstone Group earned over $700 million dollars in 2008, while Blackstone's shares traded from $22.37 down to $6.53. Am I missing something here?

Source: Top Five Highest-Paid, Worst-Performing CEOs