SiliconBeat

For Atmel (ticker:ATML), 2007 probably won’t be a year to remember. Revenues were down slightly from 2006. Profits were up a bit. And on Tuesday, the stock closed at $3.24 per share, off its 52-week high of $6.08.

Steven Laub, president and CEO of Atmel, need not despair. Laub joined the company in August 2006, and so 2007 marked the first full year under his tenure. According to a proxy filed on Tuesday, the board gave him a pay package worth $5.57 million, including a cash bonus of $968,333.

Why? The bonus is based in part on revenue targets and non-GAAP operating margins. The rest is based on more subjective criteria:

“which included leadership, recruitment and retention of senior executives, success in building and maintaining a rapport and increasing credibility with Atmel’s stockholders and analysts, and progress in the implementation of corporate initiatives and strategic, restructuring and operational plans.”

So, he must be really, really well liked.