Janco, a Park City, Utah-based IT consulting firm that conducts salary surveys, said it found that the mean compensation for CIOs in large enterprises is now US$168,839, a 6.11% decrease from a similar study it issued a year ago. In midsize organizations, the current average is $163,211, a drop-off of nearly 5%, said Janco, which cited and fringe benefits for the compensation declines.

The firm collected data from 231 organizations and culled information from filings submitted to the . As part of its report, Janco also compiled a list of some of the most highly paid people working in IT, although several of the people on the list at their companies ? while others have taken new jobs since the compensation data was publicly reported. The list is based on information available as of last summer and covers the preceding 12 months, Janco said.

The highest-paid executive that Janco found is , chief operating officer at Alltel Corp., a Little Rock, Ark.-based telecommunications firm. Fox, whose responsibilities include IT, network services and enterprise security, has an annual salary of $673,000 and total compensation of just over $9 million, Janco said.

Second on the consulting firm's list is , CEO of Best Buy Co.'s international business unit with worldwide responsibility for the retailer's information systems. Janco said that Willett's salary is $623,000 and that other compensation raised his total intake to nearly $8.6 million.

Third is Jean Davis, who has been head of operations, technology and e-commerce at and was paid a salary of $205,500, with total compensation of $7.3 million, Janco said. Wachovia was acquired by Wells Fargo & Co. in a merger on Dec. 31.