With US companies trying to closely link executive pay with performance, bonus payouts to

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chief executives has dropped 22 per cent in 2009 as firms tried to assuage sentiment of irate public, an analysis by executive compensation research firm Equilar shows.

According to a preliminary analysis of bonus trends of 180 firms for 2009, median total bonus payouts for CEOs fell by 21.9 per cent to 2009 from 2008.

The total bonus payouts, including both performance-based bonuses and discretionary cash awards, declined to USD 689,000 last year as compared to USD 882,105 in 2008.

The report stated that CEOs in certain industries took harder hits than their peers in other fields.

"For financial and technology companies, the median total bonus payout for CEOs decreased by 51.1 and 59.2 per cent, respectively, from 2008 to 2009," the Equilar report said.

In contrast, bonus payouts grew as much as 20.8 per cent for service sector and 14.7 per cent for healthcare companies.

While many CEOs had their bonus payouts cut down, some executives did not receive a bonus at all.

Among some well known CEOs, Warren Buffett, chief executive officer of conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, did not receive any bonus in 2009.

Buffett's total compensation was USD 519,490 for 2009, including a salary of USD 100,000, that has remained unchanged for more than 25 years.