2009's Highest Earning Chief Executives

$409,906,257—that’s how much 15 of the highest compensated chief executives earned in the 2009 fiscal year. A lot of zeros—yes, but still more than a $150 million drop from last year’s $568,916,025. This year, the highest earner, Lawrence J. Ellison received a total compensation of $84,501,759—the same figure that earned him the number two spot on last year’s list of highest compensated CEOs--but still roughly a $20 million drop from last year’s top spot, which went to Sanja K. Jha of Motorola, who brought home a lump sum of, $104,445,529. The findings are the product of Equilar, a California-based, executive-compensation research firm. So who are the faces behind this year’s biggest paychecks? Click through the following slides to find out.