Detroit's Highest Tribute

Money, says the proverb, makes money. --Adam Smith

Automobiles' golden year showed up on the paychecks too. General Motors Chairman Frederic Garrett Donner, 60, set an alltime automotive industry record in 1962 by earning $791,475--$201,475 in salary and directors' fees, a cash bonus of $442,500 to be collected over five years to soften the tax pinch, and $147,500 in "contingent credit"--the bonus value of G.M. stock options he was granted for 1962. The mathematics might seem a little complicated to anyone less skilled in figures than Donner, but G.M. had a tax-conscious explanation: Donner theoretically would have only $109,410 left after taxes if he collected all his 1962 income in a single year while taking no allowable deductions.

General Motors President John F. Gordon was not far behind; he got $726,100. Two executive vice presidents earned more than $600,000, and four other G.M. vice presidents were paid more than $500,000. Over at Ford, helped by record 1962 sales that lifted executive bonuses, Chairman Henry Ford II earned $540,000 in salary and cash bonus last year. Ford's retiring President John Dykstra earned $515,000, and incoming President Arjay Miller got $417,917. Ford's ten top officers serving as directors received at least $215,000 each.

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