Nearly 60 percent of chief executive pay that year was delivered through option grants, Pearl Meyer said.

Of the 200 biggest companies in the country, 93 had such guidelines last year, up from 63 in 1996, according to Pearl Meyer.

Pearl Meyer, a veteran executive-compensation consultant, tells a story about a single day in which she visited two companies.

In the first 10 months of this year, it has already reached 19 percent, according to Pearl Meyer & Partners.

"An executive who owns stock in the company he works for has a big incentive to make the firm productive," Pearl Meyer says.

Of the 200 companies surveyed by Pearl Meyer, none gave its chief executive options worth more than $50 million in 2002.

It was the first decline in nine years, Pearl Meyer said.

In all, one out of every five chief executives received no bonus in 2001, according to Pearl Meyer.

"It's a great time to give options," said Pearl Meyer, president of the firm.

Pay for the median chief executive rose 6 percent last year, according to Pearl Meyer.