Although heads of technology companies probably saw their base salaries remain flat last year, life science leaders may have experienced a slight increase. According to a survey by the executive search firms J. Robert Scott and Ernst & Young, chief executive officers (CEOs) at private tech firms were on target to receive an average of $231,000 in 2009, only $1,000 more than the year before. By comparison, the survey estimated a 4.4% bump in base pay for nonfounder CEOs in the life sciences, putting their average compensation around $285,000. Heads of research and development received an average base pay of $208,000. Those leading clinical research divisions received $216,000.