As compensation for corporate directors shifts more towards paying outside experts for their contributions, S&P 500 board members got a raise of almost $5,000 in 2016, reaching a median of $254,700, according to a study by Mercer, a consulting firm. The biggest winners work in the tobacco industry, led by Louis Camilleri, the non-executive chairman of Philip Morris International (PM - Get Report) , who earned more than $2.7 million in 2016, according to analysis by BoardEx, a relationship mapping service of TheStreet Inc. READ MORE