This man has USD 1.6 million salary at Coca-Cola Co.

(Muhtar Kent)

Coca-Cola Co. gave Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent a pay package worth $ 21.6 million last year, as the world's biggest beverage maker navigated shifting drinking habits in the US and sold more of its drinks overseas.

The compensation is up from the $ 21.2 million Kent received in 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The bump in pay was mostly the result of Kent's salary of $ 1.6 million, which was up 15 percent from the previous year.

Stock and option awards were about even at $ 13.1 million. Incentive pay, which is based on formula tied to the company's performance, was unchanged at $ 6 million.

All other compensation came to $ 963,816 and included costs for use of the company plane, a car and driver and contributions to retirement plans.

In a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Coca-Cola noted that the company delivered profit growth in a year "marked by continued uncertainty in the global economy." The Atlanta-based maker of Sprite, Powerade, Minute Maid and Dasani reported a 5 percent increase in profit to $ 9.02 billion, with global sales volume up 4 percent.

Kent first joined Coca-Cola in 1978 and held a variety of positions until 1998, when he left to become president and CEO of Efes Beverage Group. He returned to Coca-Cola in May 2005 and was named president of Coca-Cola International in January 2006 and appointed president and chief operating officer in December 2006. He took the helm as Coca-Cola's top executive in 2008. About a year later, he unveiled a plan to double the company's revenue by 2020, fueled by growth in China, India and other countries where the ranks of middle-class people are growing.