Magna Chairman’s Pay Jumps

Frank Stronach, chairman of Magna International Inc., Canada’s biggest auto-parts maker, and father of federal political hopeful Belinda Stronach, shouldn’t have trouble paying down any campaign debts with a $3 million bump in his 2003 pay packet.
The increase gives him a total of $36.2 million for the year and keeps him among the best-paid executives in Canada. The $3-million jump represents a 9-percent increase for Stronach, an Austrian who founded the company in 1957, according to a company filing with regulators.
Magna, controlled by Stronach, pays him consulting fees for services provided to Magna units in Europe and for coordinating the company’s strategy, it said in the filing. The increase for Stronach came as the fees he collects for "business development and other services" provided to non-Austrian units of the corporation rose to $34.5 million, the filing said.
In future, his pay is expected to be tied to company performance rather than through management fees.