Greed has taken over……..

Hess Corp (HES.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive John Hess pulled in nearly $42 million from exercising stock options and awards in 2007, adding to a pay package worth more than $14 million for the year.

Hess, 53, made about $34.5 million from exercising 750,000 previously awarded stock options plus $7.2 million from stock awards that vested during the year, the oil producer and refiner said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Those benefits came on top of a compensation package that included $1.4 million of salary, a $1.2 million bonus, $2.5 million of incentive awards and $9.1 million of stock and option awards. That package was roughly the same as his 2006 package.

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