CEO pay is getting more headlines: One the one side, Bloomberg reports that the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the supremo of institutional investors, is questioning the $2.6 billion in stock options being handed out in UnitedHealth’s executive suite. And on the other side, the Los Angeles Times says some of the richest CEOs around are only taking $1 a year or less in salary.

Calpers is threatening to withhold its proxy from CEO William McGuire and the compensation committee. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that McGuire has apparently had amazing luck in getting his options awarded at the stock’s lowest points and maximizing his take. The company says it is investigating and a lawsuit is underway.

But the larger problem is the perception that the biggest health insurer is making loads of money while everyone believes the healthcare system is in crisis. If you want my take on some of those issues, see my column in this week’s Business Press.

On a happier note, however, senior executives at Google and Apple take little or no pay for their leadership roles. As the paper notes, though, these guys are usually drawing a few million a year from their billion-dollar stockholdings in the companies they often founded. The lowest of the low is apparently A. Jerrold Perenchio, chairman and CEO of Univision Communications Inc. He settled for nothing but does own $1.3 billion worth of the Spanish-language network’s stock.