As general counsel and secretary of Animal Health International Inc., Damian Olthoff is betting on the publicly traded company.

Olthoff says his annual compensation is about $300,000: roughly $150,000 of that in salary and the remainder in stock options. He says he wanted an equity position in the Westlake company. “I was not interested in a high base with no upside,” he says. “I wanted the upside potential. I was excited about the future.”