U.S. Median CEO Pay Crosses $10 Million

[dmcowen674]

5-27-2014

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/median-ceo-pay-crosses--10-million-in-2013-195636213.html

U.S. Median CEO Pay Crosses $10 Million



As income inequality in the U.S. continues to dominate economic headlines, it should come as little surprise that CEO pay is hitting record highs


CEO's saw their compensation packages soar to the eight-figure mark for the first time, with median pay coming in at a cool $10.5 million, up 8.8% from 2012.


Given the 1.3% rise in salary the average U.S. employee received last year, these latest figures should help keep the pay disparity conversation going strong.

 

[dmcowen674]

Disgusting but Americans doing nothing about it so they deserve their paltry 1.3%

 

[drebo]

My pay increase over the last year was about 11%...so I'm pretty happy.

Maybe more Americans should figure out how to do things and not just repeat what they're told.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Worker wages are stagnant because CEOs can't afford to raise them since Obama is anti-business.
Good to see the CEOs are getting to keep what they earned, though. You're just sour grapes about it.

 

[AdamantC]

*Posting in a thread about Dave bitching about people who had the audacity to make more money then him*

 

[DominionSeraph]

*Posting in a thread about Dave bitching about people who had the audacity to make more money then him*

You only post once every three days and you can't be bothered to read before you reply? This is about the increase in pay gap, not their absolute salary.

Their pay increased by 8.8%.
The average worker's increased by 1.3%.
There's a problem with the "rising tide" here. It looks as though workers' boats are being held down so the extra water they displace can raise the wealthy's freely floating yachts.

 

[Matt1970]

They are the only ones who will profit when people insist on buying the cheapest made crap they can get their hands on.

 

[Londo_Jowo]

The only time I ever saw a raise that low was when I was in the military and those in power deemed their raises were more important.

 

[Newell Steamer]

It's perfectly OK - because 'Murica.

 

[positivedoppler]

But, they are top talents and they steer the ship. Don't forget much of their pay is in the much deserved 15% tax stock option.

 

[z1ggy]

I've always thought CEO's do deserve to get paid a decent amount. But median of 10M? That's a little high in my opinion. Especially when they make something like 200 times more than their average employee.

 

[QuantumPion]

With employment and workforce levels at all-time lows and welfare benefits at all-time highs, what do you expect? Did you think people that perpetually do not work will somehow get richer relative to the people who do work?

 

[Mursilis]

I've always thought CEO's do deserve to get paid a decent amount. But median of 10M? That's a little high in my opinion. Especially when they make something like 200 times more than their average employee.

Especially when they still do well even when they fail spectacularly. Also, the way their wage is set is completely broken - having a board mostly made up of other CEOs set the CEO's pay doesn't really take shareholders' interests to heart.

 

[ch33zw1z]

it's all good. they're in the trenches doing the dirty work.

 

[poofyhairguy]

CEOs as a class are dumb as the average American. If they had any savvy they would find a way to lower overall pay by deferring compensation to non-salary and bonus alternatives.

If this keeps up they are begging congress critters to tie their pay to worker pay just for the easy political points.

 

[BUnit1701]

Especially when they still do well even when they fail spectacularly. Also, the way their wage is set is completely broken - having a board mostly made up of other CEOs set the CEO's pay doesn't really take shareholders' interests to heart.

Not true. Shareholders are only interested in seeing higher profits, and if they need to pay their hatchet man $10 million to see a higher EPS or a wider margin, they are happy to do so.

 

[BoberFett]

Could it be that companies are increasing in size?

http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/ICS/InsightsAndConvenings/upload/02-11-Research-for-the-real-world.pdf

 

[CPA]

CEOs as a class are dumb as the average American. If they had any savvy they would find a way to lower overall pay by deferring compensation to non-salary and bonus alternatives.

If this keeps up they are begging congress critters to tie their pay to worker pay just for the easy political points.

Much of that is probably deferred, though my guess in after-tax deferral plans. And bonuses are taxed up front at a higher rate than normal income. Would you rather be taxed higher up front and try to get it back later, or taxed lower up front and pay up later on?

Oh, and I got around 8% this year, however, much of that will be eaten up to higher medical premiums thanks to ACA costs that my company passed on to the employees.

 

[Jaepheth]

Make it law that the highest compensation cannot exceed the lowest compensation by some multiplier X (say, 175x) So if you want to pay the CEO 10 mil, fine, everyone else in the company has to be getting paid at least ~57K first.

Or, make it so that no one employee's pay can exceed a set percentage of the total payroll.

Then you have the option of paying everyone more, or just hiring more people.

 

[BoberFett]

Make it law that the highest compensation cannot exceed the lowest compensation by some multiplier X (say, 175x) So if you want to pay the CEO 10 mil, fine, everyone else in the company has to be getting paid at least ~57K first.

Or, make it so that no one employee's pay can exceed a set percentage of the total payroll.

Then you have the option of paying everyone more, or just hiring more people.

Why?

 

[realibrad]

Make it law that the highest compensation cannot exceed the lowest compensation by some multiplier X (say, 175x) So if you want to pay the CEO 10 mil, fine, everyone else in the company has to be getting paid at least ~57K first.

Or, make it so that no one employee's pay can exceed a set percentage of the total payroll.

Then you have the option of paying everyone more, or just hiring more people.

That would be a horrible society.

You would end up hurting the poor far more than you would help anyone.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Why?

It is the political equivalent of a lay up.

And honestly I won't care despite how screwed up it is. Nowadays if you are in a visible position you need to care about political PR. It will be their fault.

 

[BoberFett]

It is the political equivalent of a lay up.

And honestly I won't care despite how screwed up it is. Nowadays if you are in a visible position you need to care about political PR. It will be their fault.

Bread and circuses.

 

[Fern]

You only post once every three days and you can't be bothered to read before you reply? This is about the increase in pay gap, not their absolute salary.

Their pay increased by 8.8%.
The average worker's increased by 1.3%.
There's a problem with the "rising tide" here. It looks as though workers' boats are being held down so the extra water they displace can raise the wealthy's freely floating yachts.

CEO's large increase in pay is, IMO, most likely due to gains in stock market over the past several years. When I was in NYC I used to work preparing tax returns for CEO's and other top execs of Fortune 500 companies. The bulk of their compensation came from stock options.

If the stock market goes down, or even stagnates, CEO compensation will plummet.

Fern

 

[Fern]

CEOs as a class are dumb as the average American. If they had any savvy they would find a way to lower overall pay by deferring compensation to non-salary and bonus alternatives.

If this keeps up they are begging congress critters to tie their pay to worker pay just for the easy political points.

The figures reported most likely are not just "salary" but include stock option and deferred income. Note the lingo in the article.

Fern