The $1.00 CEOs

When most people think of CEOs, images of a handsomely paid (think millions of dollars) executive

comes to mind.

But some chief executives are bucking the trend. Last week, it was revealed in an SEC filing that newly

minted HP CEO Meg Whitman will be receiving a base salary of $1 a year.

We take a look at some other CEOs, past and present,

who are making the same amount or less, according to Forbes magazine.

Larry Ellison, Oracle Despite the dollar a year salary, he is still the fifth richest person on the planet, worth US$39.5 billion (S$51.6 billion). Photo: Reuters

Steve Jobs, Apple When he returned to the company in 1997, he has taken just a buck salary - giving shareholders an 8,333% return.

Photo: Reuters

John Mackey, Whole Foods He started the grocery store that brought organic food to the masses for US$45,000. It now has over 300 outlets in the US and the UK and generates over US$9 billion in sales. Photo: Reuters

Larry Page, Google Google's co-founder took over from former CEO Eric Schmidt earlier this year. He can afford the measly salary, given that he is worth US$19.8 billion in Google stock and related cash-outs.

Photo: Reuters

Eric Schmidt Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, similarly, also took in just a dollar a year in salary while running Google.

Photo: Reuters

Richard D. Kinder, Kinder Morgan The billionaire, who's worth US$7.4 billion due to his stake in the natural gas pipeline company he co-founded with friend William Morgan, left Enron in 1996. Photo: Reuters

Richard Fairbank, CapitalOne Taking it a step further, or make that a dollar further, CapitalOne's founder receives zilch as his salary. We suppose his expenses are pretty much covered by awards totalling US$16.25 million in stock and options for performance in leading the company. Oh, and company-paid office supplies too. Score!

Photo: Bloomberg

Robert McEwen, US Gold Similarly, this Canadian-born CEO also does not take any actual salary for leading the prospecting company that hunts for gold in Nevada and Mexico. But, as the largest shareholder of the company since 2005, he has advanced shares over 2,000%.

Photo: Internet

Strauss Zelnick, Take Two Interactive Another zero dollar CEO, he heads the game publisher that gives the world games like Max Payne, Grand Theft Auto, and Duke Nuke'em. His company, ZelnickMedia, owns a chunk of Take Two shares.

Photo: Reuters