AMD boss hit by pay cut despite profits

Will have to scrape by on $4.5 million

AMD boss Dirk 'Diggler' Mayer will be tightening his belt and struggling through the recession like the rest of us this year.

Advanced Micro Devices' Alpha male will probably be forced to do his grocery shopping in Aldi for a while after it emerged that his 2009 payment package was slashed by 15 per cent compared to 2008.

Diggler may not be able to have his Athlon-heeled boots shined quite so often this year, as his carry-home remuneration amounted to a paltry $4.5 million, rather than the $5.3 he trousered in 2008.

Mayer's piffling package includes nearly $800,000 in salary, $45,000 in bonuses and $3.7 million in stock options, according to Network World, which worked it all out with some voodoo maths trickery based on an SEC filing.

AMD turned a seven per cent profit last year for the first time in Hector Ruiz's memory, despite a drop in revenue.