Huntsman headquarters to be donated

"The contributions of Huntsman Corporation to our state have been tremendous," said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. "Having their headquarters in Salt Lake has been a testament to the Huntsman family's commitment to our community. Knowing that they will keep the personal Huntsman offices here will continue to be a wonderful asset."

James Wood, director of the Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Utah, said it is a loss whenever a corporate headquarters leaves Utah.

"Certainly, the state and its economic development people go to great efforts to try to get corporate headquarters here, so it's a bit of a blow when one of them leaves," Wood said.

And Huntsman Corp. is "certainly important," he said, "in real terms, and symbolically, for Utah."

Also in the SEC filing Friday, Huntsman Corp. reported that Chief Executive Officer Peter Huntsman's salary was $12.1 million last year. Peter Huntsman, 43, received $1.4 million in salary, a $2.75 million bonus, $3.45 million in restricted stock and $226,840 in other compensation, such as use of a company airplane, the company said in the filing. He also got 454,950 stock options valued by Bloomberg News at $4.26 million. In 2004, Peter Huntsman's compensation totaled $2.96 million.

Jon Huntsman Sr., 69, the company founder and father of Peter Huntsman, received $2.4 million in compensation last year, including $950,000 in consulting fees and a $1.21 million bonus, the company said in its filing. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., the brother of Peter Huntsman, received $163,452 last year, mostly for personal use of a company plane.

Huntsman Corp. stock rose 13 cents Friday to close at $18.97 per share on the New York Stock Exchange. In the past year, the price has ranged from $16.50 to $24.44.

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Contributing: Bloomberg News

E-mail: jnii@desnews.com