Why are people so upset over CEOs salary?

[Anonymous]

People DIE because health insurers refuse coverage all the time. I've seen maybe three stories in the last month where this happened. I don't know how that CEO's conscience allows him to earn $19 million a year.

There are people in my office who make $45k a year. I'm not for socialism, it's fine to pay some people more than others. Maybe twice as much. Maybe four times or ten times as much. But when you start talking about these HUGE differentials it just feels wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

Who are you to say what anyone needs? And no one DESERVES any amount of money. We WORK for it. Are you people bellyaching probably work about 1/10th as much as your CEOs do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

Who are you to say what anyone needs? And no one DESERVES any amount of money. We WORK for it. Are you people bellyaching probably work about 1/10th as much as your CEOs do.

You don’t understand the point. No one here is saying harder, smarter whatever should not earn more money. Sure, they deserve it! Now, 400 times more money? It’s immoral. If your CEO makes 400 times what you do, that means that he makes the same amount, in a single day, that you do in two years.

And this isn’t just one day. Every day he makes the same as his workers do, in two years of labor. Now… what I want to know is… what could a person possibly do, in a day, that is as valuable as what any other, working person does in two years? Is he saving lives? Creating world peace? Discovering perpetual motion? No. In most cases, he’s putting in between 8 and 16 hours of meetings and flights around the country, business calls and emails. Keeping things moving. And is that important? Of course! Thousands of jobs may depend on him, as well as essential products that need to be made available to his customers. If he screws up, it could have a serious impact. Absolutely that’s important.

But… if he makes the same amount, in a day, that you make, in two years, then he makes the same amount, in two years, that you make your entire working life. Think about that. Think about 40 years of paychecks, groceries, gas in your car, a mortgage, car payments, your kid’s college tuitions, dinners out with your wife, vacations, techno toys, pets, prom dresses and cleaning supplies… an entire lifetime of a reasonable, normal, average family’s income and outgo, in two short years.

Now… let’s assume our CEO wasn’t born that way, and it took him a few years to get to his exalted place. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that he’s only making 400 what you are for the last twenty years of his career. So… in that twenty years, he makes ten times what you do, in your entire life. Plus, of course, his hedge funds, his shares in the company, his golden parachute, and, of course, the fact that he pays 1/10th the income tax you do.

That’s a LOT of money. That’s not “a nice, well-earned life.” That’s not a Park Avenue apartment and a house in the Hamptons and a yacht. That’s more money than he could ever spend in his entire life, and more money than his kids could spend and their kids could spend… At a certain point, the accumulation of wealth becomes something beyond… ambitious, or even selfish. Because once you have all the material things you could possibly ever want, accumulating more wealth doesn’t even benefit you. It becomes completely meaningless.

And, when 45 million of your fellow countrymen are at or below the poverty level, when schools and social safety nets are being cut, when the middle class is paying ten times the taxes you are, and there’s still not enough to go around… it seems to me like a kind of insanity. And… treason, to be blunt. The 1% of Americans are destroying the American economy, and the country is being damaged by it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for a Fortune 500 and you couldn’t pay me enough to be CEO. Their entire life and that of their family is completely dominated by work. To get to that level you are wholly owned by the company. If they want to live that life go for it. They should be compensated. And the pp who said it is mostly stock is correct.

I completely agree. I’m in senior level management and feel like my life revolves around work- but it is absolutely nothing compared to what my CEO deals with. He deserves whatever he is paid to handle the crap he handles

This just sounds so out-of-touch with lower income families where parents work several jobs just to make ends meet. A Fortune 500 CEO can quit at 40 and his grand kids can still be set with all the dividends.

I’m the first poster.

There aren’t that many Fortune 500 CEOs who are 40. It’s a job you get after years of being completely dedicated to your industry.

Look, I get it, it’s a ton of money. That said, I much prefer the childhood I had with a dad as a teacher and a stay at home mom than the life our CEO and other members of our executive team live. They move, often internationally, every couple of years, miss birthdays, concerts, first dates. You name it, they aren’t present. Their spouses frequently have to give us their jobs due to the frequent moves. Divorce rate is high. It’s an impossible life if you want to have any balance.

If you are interested in that type of money start playing the game. The office and airports will be your new home and you’ll have a constant knot in your stomach from all the stress.

Retiring at 40 is just a rhetoric to show how much they make. I think you're still missing the point. Yea, I know, CEO's lives are difficult as they're married to their jobs. But there are many many low income parents that work several jobs and see little of their children just to make ends meet. The counter example of the low-salaried worker is not to belittle the achievements and dedication of the CEO, but to emphasize how exobertant and inflated their salaries are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

Would you turn the salary down?

I am sure you have never been to a theatre or hospital that was partially or wholly funded by a big donor.

Why shouldn’t someone make that much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

Who are you to say what anyone needs? And no one DESERVES any amount of money. We WORK for it. Are you people bellyaching probably work about 1/10th as much as your CEOs do.

You don’t understand the point. No one here is saying harder, smarter whatever should not earn more money. Sure, they deserve it! Now, 400 times more money? It’s immoral. If your CEO makes 400 times what you do, that means that he makes the same amount, in a single day, that you do in two years.

And this isn’t just one day. Every day he makes the same as his workers do, in two years of labor. Now… what I want to know is… what could a person possibly do, in a day, that is as valuable as what any other, working person does in two years? Is he saving lives? Creating world peace? Discovering perpetual motion? No. In most cases, he’s putting in between 8 and 16 hours of meetings and flights around the country, business calls and emails. Keeping things moving. And is that important? Of course! Thousands of jobs may depend on him, as well as essential products that need to be made available to his customers. If he screws up, it could have a serious impact. Absolutely that’s important.

But… if he makes the same amount, in a day, that you make, in two years, then he makes the same amount, in two years, that you make your entire working life. Think about that. Think about 40 years of paychecks, groceries, gas in your car, a mortgage, car payments, your kid’s college tuitions, dinners out with your wife, vacations, techno toys, pets, prom dresses and cleaning supplies… an entire lifetime of a reasonable, normal, average family’s income and outgo, in two short years.

Now… let’s assume our CEO wasn’t born that way, and it took him a few years to get to his exalted place. Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that he’s only making 400 what you are for the last twenty years of his career. So… in that twenty years, he makes ten times what you do, in your entire life. Plus, of course, his hedge funds, his shares in the company, his golden parachute, and, of course, the fact that he pays 1/10th the income tax you do.

That’s a LOT of money. That’s not “a nice, well-earned life.” That’s not a Park Avenue apartment and a house in the Hamptons and a yacht. That’s more money than he could ever spend in his entire life, and more money than his kids could spend and their kids could spend… At a certain point, the accumulation of wealth becomes something beyond… ambitious, or even selfish. Because once you have all the material things you could possibly ever want, accumulating more wealth doesn’t even benefit you. It becomes completely meaningless.

And, when 45 million of your fellow countrymen are at or below the poverty level, when schools and social safety nets are being cut, when the middle class is paying ten times the taxes you are, and there’s still not enough to go around… it seems to me like a kind of insanity. And… treason, to be blunt. The 1% of Americans are destroying the American economy, and the country is being damaged by it.

This.... Its a combination of increasing salary in proportion to workers as well as them quite honestly not earning the pay. They simply don't deserve it. I know people who are more deserving of that kindof money and are walking around like average joes....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

Would you turn the salary down?

I am sure you have never been to a theatre or hospital that was partially or wholly funded by a big donor.

Why shouldn’t someone make that much?

The rich want everything privatized because they have the money to buy everything. The great propaganda achievement is to convince the people that private property is good for them. Someday, they, too, will be rich and famous living by the American Creed: I've got mine. Screw the rest of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

[Anonymous]

9 out of 10 times CEOs don't create the value their pay demands. And someone smart and motivated would do the same job for only $1-2m per year. Something doesn't add up.

The fact of the matter is the the C-suite and BoD's are incestuous cartels. They function more like a mafia. They reward one another with generous pay schemes. In addition, BoD members tend to sit on multiple boards or are former C-suite executives themselves of other companies. This is proven through the Golden Parachute clauses that are standard in many C-suite executive compensation agreements.

Why the hell would a company willing pay out 10's of millions to a loser who destroyed value and failed? Because it's rigged and not really a "free market" at that level of the corporate hierarchy.

Further, much of CEO performance can be attributable to bigger economic forces outside their control. A CEO brought in at the depths of a global recession tends to garner accolades as the economy stabilizes and improves. Further, a low interest rate environment boosts stock prices as investors chase yield. None of these factors have anything to do with executive performance, yet they get to reap the rewards of broad economic improvements. Basically, if most CEOs can cruise on auto-pilot and get rewarded spectacularly well, so long as they don't lose key heads of business lines and star performers in sales.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

Would you turn the salary down?

I am sure you have never been to a theatre or hospital that was partially or wholly funded by a big donor.

Why shouldn’t someone make that much?

I feel differently about business owners who strike it rich. CEOs though aren't necessarily owners.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

Yea, I'm going to take inspirational advice from what is arguably the poorest performing demographic group in the US in terms of economic performance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

Yea, I'm going to take inspirational advice from what is arguably the poorest performing demographic group in the US in terms of economic performance.

Try this guy then. He’s loaded. Maybe you’ll listen to him.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for a Fortune 500 and you couldn’t pay me enough to be CEO. Their entire life and that of their family is completely dominated by work. To get to that level you are wholly owned by the company. If they want to live that life go for it. They should be compensated. And the pp who said it is mostly stock is correct.

I completely agree. I’m in senior level management and feel like my life revolves around work- but it is absolutely nothing compared to what my CEO deals with. He deserves whatever he is paid to handle the crap he handles

This just sounds so out-of-touch with lower income families where parents work several jobs just to make ends meet. A Fortune 500 CEO can quit at 40 and his grand kids can still be set with all the dividends.

I’m the first poster.

There aren’t that many Fortune 500 CEOs who are 40. It’s a job you get after years of being completely dedicated to your industry.

Look, I get it, it’s a ton of money. That said, I much prefer the childhood I had with a dad as a teacher and a stay at home mom than the life our CEO and other members of our executive team live. They move, often internationally, every couple of years, miss birthdays, concerts, first dates. You name it, they aren’t present. Their spouses frequently have to give us their jobs due to the frequent moves. Divorce rate is high. It’s an impossible life if you want to have any balance.

If you are interested in that type of money start playing the game. The office and airports will be your new home and you’ll have a constant knot in your stomach from all the stress.

Retiring at 40 is just a rhetoric to show how much they make. I think you're still missing the point. Yea, I know, CEO's lives are difficult as they're married to their jobs. But there are many many low income parents that work several jobs and see little of their children just to make ends meet. The counter example of the low-salaried worker is not to belittle the achievements and dedication of the CEO, but to emphasize how exobertant and inflated their salaries are.

And no one is stopping any of the low income people you mention from becoming CEOs, or making 19 mil/year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does anyone deserve to make $19MM per year??

No one needs that much money.

Yea, I'm going to take inspirational advice from what is arguably the poorest performing demographic group in the US in terms of economic performance.

Try this guy then. He’s loaded. Maybe you’ll listen to him.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014

So what is Mr. Hanauer from donating his fortune to the government? That is always an option when doing taxes. If he truly thinks inequality is so bad, he should put his money where is mouth is.