Duke's best-paid employee made almost $4 million last year.
And he retired two years ago.
Dr. Ralph Snyderman, chancellor emeritus of the Duke University Health System, was the University's highest earner in the 2004-2005 fiscal year, according to University tax forms made public earlier this week.
In February, Duke filed its Internal Revenue Service 990 tax forms-a document required by the IRS for all non-profit organizations.
Included in the forms is a list of the University's highest-paid employees, as well as a list of the compensation for every officer and director.
Snyderman, who retired in July 2004, netted $3.984 million, earning nearly four times as much money as he did in the 2003-2004 fiscal year. John Burness, senior vice president of government and public relations, called the compensation "the highest in [his] memory."
Nearly 75 percent of Snyderman's package came under the category of "expense account and other allowances"-money which the former chancellor received in addition to his salary.
"In his case, it is some deferred compensation. [And] some portion is from an incentive provision that was built into his contract," Burness said. "Those are the two biggest components of his contract."
The University paid Snyderman nearly twice as much as any other employee during the fiscal year.
Men's basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who usually finds himself near or at the top of the list, fell to third place this year.
Despite losing his top ranking, Krzyzewski still raked in more than $1.25 million, a figure that does not include any of his endorsement agreements.
Second on the list was Eugene McDonald, former president of the Duke University Management Corporation, who received more than $2.1 million.
Most of his salary-$1.85 million-also fell under the expense account category.
DUMAC, the University's investment management organization, is responsible for handling the University's more than $6-billion endowment and its other assets.
High salaries are necessary for executives at DUMAC because of the competition from jobs executives could otherwise have in the private sector, Burness said.
Current DUMAC President Thruston Morton received $971,000 for the past fiscal year. Before joining DUMAC in 2000, Morton spent 22 years working for J.P. Morgan, serving most recently as head of the multi-manager group-a business line he developed for the firm's larger high-net-worth clients.
Also according to the 990, the University paid 5,030 employees at least $50,000 in FY 2005.
In addition, the University provided $149.9 million in financial aid-more than $60 million of which funded undergraduates' educations.
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