THE newly appointed boss of the struggling phone maker Motorola has been revealed as the US's highest-paid corporate leader, with a pay package of $US104 million ($147 million), as political heat rises over executive pay at the height of an economic downturn.

Motorola's co-chief executive, Sanjay Jha, who was hired in August to turn around the company's fading handsets business, received nearly all of his package in shares and options tied to the firm's share price performance.

Elsewhere, boardroom bosses slightly tightened their belts. The average salary and bonus paid to a US chief executive fell 8.5 per cent to $US2.24 million last year.

Mr Jha is an Indian-born engineer who was educated at Strathclyde and Liverpool universities in Britain. He was recruited by Motorola from the Californian telecoms company Qualcomm at the relatively youthful age of 45.

Motorola defended Mr Jha's remuneration, emphasising that it largely consists of share awards that are yet to vest. For 2009, he has agreed to a 25 per cent cut in salary and to forgo any cash bonus.

"We have tied the vast majority of his compensation to equity awards linked to the stock price," a company spokeswoman said. "He will realise value only when we have share-price appreciation."

Other top earners include Occidental Petroleum's boss Ray Irani, who received a package worth $US49.9 million, and Disney's chief executive, Robert Iger, who earned $US49.7 million.

Meanwhile, a furore is brewing in Washington over $US210 million in bonuses to employees set to be paid over three years by the US mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which are relying on billions of dollars of government support to stay afloat.

Senior figures on Capitol Hill are calling on the mortgage aggregators to halt the payments.

Freddie will make "retention" payments to 4057 employees this year. Of these, 92 people will get more than $US100,000 and one will receive more than $US692,000.