This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. Gas prices got you down? Vote for Lee Raymond as the most overpaid CEO.

Lee Raymond retired as CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) at the end of 2005, and in April it was announced that he had received one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including stock options and other perks, this at a time when Americans were paying record fuel prices and Exxon had made the biggest profit of any company ever -- $36 billion.

Exxon defends Raymond's compensation, pointing out that during the years he ran the company, Exxon became the largest oil company in the world, as well as one of the world's most powerful companies. The stock price soared 500 percent during that time.

Raymond began his career at Exxon as a research engineer after receiving his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1963. He worked his way up the proverbial ladder with innovative moves that cut costs and increased profits. He defended Exxon against environmentalists and human rights activists, while denying the viability of renewable energy sources and the human component of global warming.

He was president of Exxon in 1989 during the Exxon Valdez disaster, when the damaged tanker spilled an estimated 30 million gallons of crude oil off the Alaskan coast and devastated wildlife. As CEO he oversaw the merger of Exxon and Mobil -- gains from the merger showed that early predictions had underestimated the potential growth.

Exxon claims that his retirement is in accordance with its standard pension plan, based on his forty plus years of service and his salary at retirement, about $51 million.