During his term as CEO, Bill Ford decided in May 2005, to forego new compensation until Ford Motor's automotive sector achieved sustainable profitability. That has yet to happen.

Bill Ford declined the board's offer, according to spokesman Oscar Suris. "He wants to stay true to his pledge," Suris explained last month. The company estimates that Bill Ford has foregone between $25 million and $33 million in compensation for the nearly three years since he made the pledge.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said the board had decided to pay the bonuses because of the progress the company had made in a turnaround effort aimed at restoring profitability by 2009.

Mulally himself was favorably targetted by the board most recently. According to etails contained in a filing with the Securities Exchange COmmission, Mulally was awarded restricted stock worth $4.1 million and 3.56 million stock options.

The company did not assign a dollar value to the stock options, which carried an exercise price of $6.14, the closing price of Ford stock on the day the payout was approved.

Mulally joined Ford from Boeing in late 2006 and was paid $37.5 million during his first 14 months on the job.