Dell Got $4.5 Million CEO Pay, But No Bonus

"Mr. Dell did not receive a raise because the committee determined that the key component of his compensation was performance-based bonus," the company reported in the statement for shareholders.

Dell's $4.5 million compensation included $950,000 in salary in addition to company-paid security and option awards, the PC maker reported.

For Dell, the income compares to his ownership of $6.6 billion worth of company stock, which had declined in value over the past two years as his company struggled with sales and profit that were under pressure and myriad investigations into the company's accounting and financial reporting. (Dell's stock has rebounded recently.)

Michael Dell's compensation also compares to the $8.5 million Dell paid former CEO Kevin Rollins during the 2007 fiscal year.

Both Rollins and ex-Chief Financial Officer James Schneider quit the company over the past year in the midst of the investigations and Dell's struggles. The company reported that Schneider forfeited almost $8 million in long-term cash compensation when he quit the company last December. Rosendo Parra, a former Dell senior vice president who also quit the company in the middle of its last fiscal year. Parra walked away from about $6.2 million in long-term cash payments when he resigned, the company said.

It was the first time Dell has filed a proxy statement in more than a year, following lengthy investigations into its accounting and financial reporting by the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors. Earlier this week, Dell filed several past-due financial reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; the proxy statement is filed in advance of its Dec. 4 shareholders meeting.

In addition to the executive compensation report, Dell also announced its Board of Directors was backing re-appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as its independent auditor; PwC has been described as having helped Dell's directors with its accounting investigation - - an inquiry which, Dell said, uncovered evidence of earnings numbers that were manipulated to meet Wall Street expectations, as well as fraud with an account in Japan and problems with its warranty accounting.

Dell still remains under investigation by the SEC and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the company has said it is cooperating with those inquiries.