Want to know the secret to taking the top spot in Corporate Counsel magazine’s annual survey of the 100 most highly paid general counsel? Hitch a ride on the profit express.
That’s the happy position that Jon Walton, general counsel of specialty metals manufacturer Allegheny Technologies Inc., found himself in last year. Buoyed by a prescient decision to invest in titanium, a change in management and a key acquisition of a rival steel firm, the Pittsburgh-based company’s stock skyrocketed more than 500 percent during the past two years. Net income rose from $360 million in 2005 to $572 million last year. As a result, in 2006, Walton’s total pay package leaped more than 400 percent, to $5.2 million, earning him the number one position on our roster.
