It is tough being a CFO these days. Just ask Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Robert P. Wayman. He has had to contend with a shrinking personal-computer market, a company stock price that has fallen 78% over the last two years and an acrimonious potential merger partner. And then, there's his paycheck.

In 2001 the 33-year H-P veteran experienced what can only be described as a compensation reversal of fortunes.

According to H-P's proxy statement, Wayman was forced to forfeit more than $680,000 in restricted stock options and his 2001 bonus after the board determined that various performance goals had not been met during a three-year period ending Oct. 31, 2001. So while Wayman's base salary was bumped up 9.5% to $925,000 from $845,000 the year before, the effective impact of his forfeiture meant that the value of his total annual compensation package actually fell to $249,365 from more than $1.74 million in 2000. There can be one comfort for Wayman: He is far from the only loser in this year's executive payday.