“The chief executives of America’s 500 biggest companies got a collective 38% pay raise last year, to $7.5 billion. That’s an average $15.2 million apiece. Exercised stock options again account for the main component of pay, 48%. The average stock gain was $7.3 million,” Scott DeCarlo reports for Forbes.
“The highest-paid boss of the 500 companies we tracked: Apple (AAPL) chief Steve Jobs. He drew a nominal $1 salary but realized $647 million from vested restricted stock last year,” DeCarlo reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Judge Bork” for the heads up.]
Worth every penny.
While I’m happy that Apple is as successful as it is right now, doesn’t anyone else see the dicrepancy in pay across the company a little bothersome? This isn’t a problem specific to Apple.
How many of you got a 38% pay raise last year? And no matter how good Steve Jobs is at his job, he’s just one person. It takes thousands of people for a corporation such as Apple to function, and I have my doubts that all of “the little people” got anything near that percentage of an increase. I’m not at all against the leaders of a company making a significant amount more than “common” employees, at least as long as their responsibilities are significantly higher. I do have a problem with some employees raking in huge increases while others don’t, unless the ones that don’t are shown to be incompetent or underperforming.
Which would you rather have,
1. A one dollar annual salary.
or
2. $650 +/- 50 million in stock options.
You have 48-hours time in which to make your decision. Think carefully.
“See what happens when you save your money and stop spending it all on dope and pizzas.”
Dude. You just blew my mind.
re: all the wealth redistribution comments…
wealth is relative. guess how much income tax steve pays in relation to the chinese worker? the net of wealth is really what you can do with the money. a person in poverty wants different things than a wealthy person. that is also part of the valuation model. you need to step back from the personal considerations. the worker would need a lot more if they did not have a job. successful companies and their at ceo’s create value, which in turn creates jobs. neither the value creation or the jobs are entitlements.
many in society come at values from entitlement perspective. that is killing our society. crime is exactly that perspective with an active component. what is mine is mine and if i want what is yours, i’m going to take it or vote for a congressman who will help me get it.
not trying to defend the gross actions of the bad examples some executives have set. steve is not one of them. he understands the whole deal about values.
if you have not served on an executive compensation committee, don’t expose you ignorance by spewing one dimensional elementary schoolyard comments. ceo contracts are made 2-3 years in advance. a standard practice is to tie performance to equity value. it is not perfect, but easily measurable. remember, these people are trying to run a company to make shareholder value. everything else is irrelevant. it is not their choice, it is their job. if you like apple products, then they are probably doing a decent job.
To Macaday and somebody
It’s everyone’s problem but essentially you’re saying that slavery in the US south would not have been your problem if it still existed today and you lived in New York. That’s what all the plantation owners used to say: but how can we make money if we don’t have slaves. Being competitive is no justification for abusing another human being.
And Macaday, you might want to check your facts. Some people are getting rich but a recent documentary painfully highlighted the facts. The vast majority make less a pittance, are forced to work 16 hour days or longer and seven days a week when needed, get no overtime despite laws that says they must, and certainly can’t afford to live anywhere close to a decent life (like yours for instance) despite the low cost of living there. Poverty is poverty no matter where you live.
In essence, we’re all complicit in their suffering.
that works out at about $277,000 an hour, way to go boy
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On average, how many hours does Steve Jobs work per week?
All I can say is the company continues to morph into a greed machine. Having worked for Apple (I know, I know… folks will doubt) for 5+ years, things felt different. I am ready for a new laptop and AppleCare is a must have now. The parts get cheaper, the profit margins get fatter and the shareholders feel good. But at the end of the day, lots of folks are getting robbed!
“You have 48-hours time in which to make your decision. Think carefully.”
If you can backdate those options, we’ve got a deal! I’ll get the right people to forge the appropriate paperwork.
That’s not thinking carefully. Just one dollar for you.
“That’s not thinking carefully. Just one dollar for you.”
One dollar’s fine, Wink Wink. We don’t have to tell anyone about the rest. Wink Wink.
Hey Steve, we’ve just finished preparing the forged paperwork, can you check it and get back to me?
Looks good Fred, now remember if the SEC asks, I don’t know anything about this.