Fenixgoon
Lifer
- Jun 30, 2003
- 31,098
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He was speaking about the way he earns a living, and it is completely acceptable for a reason:
He gets paid by long term capital gains which are taxed at a lower rate than plain W2 income. Had he been paid solely in W2 wages his tax rate would be higher than the secretary's rate.
That is part of the reason lots of CEOs are paid $1 per year in salary while earning millions in stock options.....so long as they deliver performance for shareholders in stock price appreciation.
While I do think that there should probably be cap on the amount you can make via stock options at a favorable tax rate ($10M?), it is better for everyone vs simply paying them $10,000,000 a year no matter how the company does.
tax income as income, no matter the source. "but it encourages investment" may be true, but investment would be a good idea anyways regardless of the tax benefits.
and golden parachute deals ensure that the bolded is immaterial. these people have more money than most americans will ever see, and get even more when they ruin lives and economies. it is morally abhorrent.