This spring's shareholder proxy season promises to trigger fireworks among shareholders. Scores of public companies are under scrutiny from shareholders and politicians for rewarding their chief executive officers with huge pay and severance packages, sometimes despite spectacular management failures. Home Depot's Robert L. Nardelli, for example, received a $210 million severance package in January, while Capital One Financial's Richard D. Fairbank took home $280 million in compensation in 2005. Meanwhile, an investigation is proceeding into the possible manipulation of executive stock options at up to 200 companies. New federal rules requiring companies to disclose once-hidden details of their compensation took effect this year, setting the stage for bitter controversy over corporate pay. A coalition of shareholders is petitioning some 50 corporations for the right to advise their boards on the companies' executive compensation, and the new Democrat-controlled Congress has made moves aimed at curbing pay.

Thomas J. Billitteri is a CQ Researcher staff writer based in Fairfield, Pa., who has more than 30 years' experience covering business, nonprofit institutions and public policy for newspapers and other publications. He has written previously for CQ Researcher on "Domestic Poverty," "Curbing CEO Pay" and "Teacher Education." He holds a BA in English and an MA in journalism from Indiana University.