"The willingness to send others off to die for a misguided war because you wet your pants after 9/11 is called 'cowardice' not courage." - Atrios
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Exorbitant Executive Pay - Lee Raymond is NOT the only greedy CEO bastard!
"It is not good for our society for one class of workers to become an aristocracy at the expense of everyone else." - Jerry Goldberg
An April 24th column by A. J. Carter in New York Newsday focused on an accountant, Jerry Goldberg, who "dealt with his insomnia by counting compensation for the top five executives at each of the Fortune 500 companies - and what he found was eye-opening."
"At 87 of the companies - more than one in six - the top execs' compensation packages (salaries, bonuses, stock options), combined, came out to a figure equal to or greater than 10 percent of that firm's profits (or losses, whichever were applicable). That's a pretty hefty drain on the corporate treasury for only five employees."
"The raw numbers of the group Goldberg calls the Fortunate 2500 were just as startling: an average of $5.7 million a person. That's 127 times the $45,000 salary of the average worker in 2004, the year in which the numbers are based."
So while the media and the public are focusing on the truly obscene (over $400,000,000) retirement package given to one retiring CEO, Exxon/Mobil's Lee Raymond, Goldberg's analysis makes clear that excessive executive compensation is far more widespread than most people suspect. It's the main reason why the economy may be doing "well" statistically but from the perspective of the average worker the economy "sucks."
Visit Goldberg's website, where he's got his spreadsheet, a "Hall of Fame," and some recommended solutions.
http://www.jgfortunate2500list.com
An April 24th column by A. J. Carter in New York Newsday focused on an accountant, Jerry Goldberg, who "dealt with his insomnia by counting compensation for the top five executives at each of the Fortune 500 companies - and what he found was eye-opening."
"At 87 of the companies - more than one in six - the top execs' compensation packages (salaries, bonuses, stock options), combined, came out to a figure equal to or greater than 10 percent of that firm's profits (or losses, whichever were applicable). That's a pretty hefty drain on the corporate treasury for only five employees."
"The raw numbers of the group Goldberg calls the Fortunate 2500 were just as startling: an average of $5.7 million a person. That's 127 times the $45,000 salary of the average worker in 2004, the year in which the numbers are based."
So while the media and the public are focusing on the truly obscene (over $400,000,000) retirement package given to one retiring CEO, Exxon/Mobil's Lee Raymond, Goldberg's analysis makes clear that excessive executive compensation is far more widespread than most people suspect. It's the main reason why the economy may be doing "well" statistically but from the perspective of the average worker the economy "sucks."
Visit Goldberg's website, where he's got his spreadsheet, a "Hall of Fame," and some recommended solutions.
http://www.jgfortunate2500list.com
