America's 10 highest-paid CEOs

The Corporate Library, which monitors corporate governance on behalf of shareholders, has said in a report that despite the hue and cry in the United States over rising CEO compensation in the face of a recession, chief executives continue to draw astronomical salaries.

The report said that the highest-paid chief executive in the United States, in 2008, got total emoluments of $702.4 million.

So check out who are the 10 highest paid CEOs in the USA. . .

1. Stephen Schwarzman: $702.4 million

Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of investment company Blackstone Group, got a total of $702.4 million: of this $699.7 million was received in shares vested after the company's public offering.

Oracle Corp chief executive Lawrence 'Larry' Ellison was named the second highest paid CEO in the US, with a pay packet of $556.9 million which included stock options worth $543 million.

3. Ray Irani: $222.6 million

Ray Irani, CEO, Occidental Petroleum, is the third highest paid American chief executive.

He drew a compensation of $222.6 million, $184 million coming from stock options.

John Hess, chief executive of the Hess Corporation, is USA's fourth highest paid CEO with a compensation package of $159.6 million.

5. Michael Watford: $116.9 million

In the fifth spot is Ultra Petroleum Corp CEO Michael Watford. He got a pay of $116.9 million in 2008.

Aubrey McClendon, the Chesapeake Energy boss, drew $114.3 million to be America's sixth highest paid CEO.

XTO Energy chief Bob Simpson, with a pay packet of $103.5 million, is the US's seventh highest paid chief executive.

Mark Papa, chief executive of EOG Resources, is the eighth highest paid American CEO with a total compensation of $90.5 million.

Nabors Industries CEO Eugene Isenberg is in the ninth slot, with a pay of $79.3 million.

Michael Jeffries, CEO of retail firm Abercrombie & Fitch, is the 10th highest paid American CEO with his 2008 compensation at $71.8 million.