CEO ~ Worker Pay Checks (wealthiest, companies, interest, money)

[AksarbeN]

Interesting article on CEO pay and the average worker pay.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/26/news/economy/ceo_pay/

Do you feel that CEO’s should be able to make this type of money and why do stockholders allow the companies board of directors to allow the increases in salaries and benefits? Is this crazy or am I wrong? When and where does this stop? I remember the Exxon CEO retired with over $400 million in salary plus his benefits not long ago, and also the founder and CEO of United Health Care made off with $1/2 Billion as he left the company.

[golfgal]

Absolutely they should be able to make that kind of money. That is what makes the US great, the ability to earn how ever much money you want. What about Bill Gates, the wealthiest man in the US who started a company out of his garage at age 20, do you begrudge him his wealth? What about professional athletes? Many of them make more then the CEO's of the world.

[mystree]

I say no,chances are the people on down the ladder are taking a screwin.

[jhlcomp]

While the referenced article is almost two years old, the fact still remains about the CEO's pay and the issues surrounding that. I believe CEO's need to be held more accountable, their earnings should be based on performance and how well their company has done as a result of their efforts. If it's a bad year, then their remuneration is set at their base salary.

[gardener34]

"their earnings should be based on performance".. yes, and how many jobs they can feasibly keep INSIDE the U.S.

Instead of rewarding the stock flippers.

[cdelena]

Originally Posted by AksarbeN

Interesting article on CEO pay and the average worker pay.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/26/news/economy/ceo_pay/

Do you feel that CEO’s should be able to make this type of money and why do stockholders allow the companies board of directors to allow the increases in salaries and benefits? Is this crazy or am I wrong? When and where does this stop? I remember the Exxon CEO retired with over $400 million in salary plus his benefits not long ago, and also the founder and CEO of United Health Care made off with $1/2 Billion as he left the company.

Clearly some CEO's are too close to the board that set compensation so many packages are out of line. Better disclosure and improved mechanisms to allow shareholders to pressure the board are appropriate.

The current CEO of Exxon is pretty low on the list (not in the top 50) when it comes to CEO compensation. The last one left with a large package but much of it had to do with his 41 year tenure (the CEO of Capital One made more in just five years)

The average CEO makes 5 million a year which seems a bit out of line. The Japanese used to have what seemed to be a reasonable guideline that the highest paid employee should make no more than 200 times the lowest.