Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak saw 79.8 percent increase in compensation

Total compensation: $40,500,470 for the year ended April 30

Salary: $1,503,123

Non-equity incentive pay: $5,607,741

Other compensation: $25,578,463

Value realized on vesting shares: $7,811,143

New stock options: 223,073

Total shareholder return: 28.8 percent

Shares owned by shareholders and executives were subject to capital-gains taxes, and unexercised options and unvested restricted stock controlled by executives were subject to an excise tax.

According to Medtronic's proxy, the tax gross-up payments were made to "neutralize the effect of the excise tax so that covered executives were neither harmed by, nor benefited from, the transaction." The proxy emphasized that the executives were responsible for same capital-gains taxes on shares they owned outright that other shareholders were.

Absent the tax gross-up, Ishrak took home about $15 million for the year. That was up 79.8 percent from the $8.3 million he took home the previous year. His annual incentive bonus went from $4.7 million to $5.6 million and, thanks to the increasing value of Medtronic stock, the value of Ishrak's restricted stock that vested went from $2.1 million to $7.8 million.

Patrick Kennedy