shareholder value

Each year, any number of organizations publish lists of America's highest paid CEOs. But the real question is: How many of them can be said to have earned those gigantic pay packages. 24/7 Wall St. dug into the numbers to find out.

CEO bonuses rose 30.5% in the past year, but are the heads of large U.S. firms really earning their hefty compensation packages by creating increased profits and shareholder value? A closer look reveals wide disparities: There are some Bargain CEOs, but also some Hogs and Value Destroyers.

Which CEOs have helped deliver the best returns to investors -- and which have done them no good at all? Chief Executive magazine has this year's ranking of the top 50 best and worst wealth-creating CEOs. The No. 1 shareholder friend: Priceline CEO Jeff Boyd.

Kraft has offered more cash in its proposal to buy Cadbury, but neither Cadbury nor Warren Buffett, Kraft's major shareholder, likes the plan.