CEO salaries are growing at an unprecedented pace

[ZiprHead]

CEO pay is growing at breakneck speeds even for top executives who aren't doing a very good job. In response to this trend of overvalued execs, social responsibility nonprofit As You Sow released its latest report on the most overpaid CEOs of S&P 500 companies.

The big picture: CEO pay has increased so greatly that even the bottom 10% of companies with the worst one-year shareholder returns had CEOs with median pay packages of $12.6 million, As You Sow found.

Between 1978 and 2018, inflation-adjusted CEO compensation based on realized stock options has increased 940%, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute.

The increase was 25% to 33% greater than the companies' stock market growth and almost 10 times greater than the 11.9% growth in a typical worker’s annual pay during that period.

Health care CEOs took home $2.6 billion in 2018

The chief executives of 177 health care companies collectively made $2.6 billion in 2018 — roughly $700 million more than what the National Institutes of Health spent researching Alzheimer's disease last year, according to a new Axios analysis of financial filings.

Why it matters: The pay packages reveal the health care system's real incentives: finding ways to boost revenue and stock value by raising prices, filling more hospital beds, and selling more drugs and devices.

By the numbers: The median pay of a health care CEO in 2018 was $7.7 million. Fourteen CEOs made more than $46 million each.

A vast majority of CEO pay comes from exercised and vested shares of stock. Salaries are almost an afterthought.

But health care executives routinely earned millions of dollars in cash bonuses, based on factors like revenue goals and financial metrics that experts say can be manipulated.

Quality of care is either not a factor at all in CEOs' bonuses, or a marginal one.

 

[Trausti]

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Health care CEOs took home $2.6 billion in 2018

The chief executives of 177 health care companies collectively made $2.6 billion in 2018 — roughly $700 million more than what the National Institutes of Health spent researching Alzheimer's disease last year, according to a new Axios analysis of financial filings.

Why it matters: The pay packages reveal the health care system's real incentives: finding ways to boost revenue and stock value by raising prices, filling more hospital beds, and selling more drugs and devices.

By the numbers: The median pay of a health care CEO in 2018 was $7.7 million. Fourteen CEOs made more than $46 million each.

A vast majority of CEO pay comes from exercised and vested shares of stock. Salaries are almost an afterthought.

But health care executives routinely earned millions of dollars in cash bonuses, based on factors like revenue goals and financial metrics that experts say can be manipulated.

Quality of care is either not a factor at all in CEOs' bonuses, or a marginal one.

So how much of this is owed to you?

 

[ZiprHead]

So how much of this is owed to you?

Blindness becomes you.

 

[Xoxarle1]

I guess this is the endgame of decades of top executive pay increasing by double digits each year, and worker pay increasing by cost-of-living margins only, and a job market where corporations have all the leverage and unions next to none.

There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches, because when it hits, you're all gonna wonder how you ever thought you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.

I once read about a Wall Street CEO who's pay one year was like 40% of the entire company revenue (or profits, or something). Eventually, even if the media ignores this, ordinary people are going to ask why it has to be like this, and vote for someone promising to do something about it.

 

[TSwizzle]

It really is obscene.

But so is this;

A former top investment official at CalPERS received the largest pension the retirement system has ever paid last year, according to Transparent California and reviews of pension data by The Sacramento Bee. Curtis Ishii, 64, of Sacramento, retired from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System as its managing investment director for fixed income in July 2018. Last year, Ishii received $418,608 in pension payments, according to Transparent California, a website that tracks public pensions and salaries.

SacBee

And every year there's a measure on the ballot to increase CA taxes to pay for this shit.

Now if Bernie can rein this shit in, I'm on board.

 

[ZiprHead]

It really is obscene.

But so is this;

A former top investment official at CalPERS received the largest pension the retirement system has ever paid last year, according to Transparent California and reviews of pension data by The Sacramento Bee. Curtis Ishii, 64, of Sacramento, retired from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System as its managing investment director for fixed income in July 2018. Last year, Ishii received $418,608 in pension payments, according to Transparent California, a website that tracks public pensions and salaries.

SacBee

And every year there's a measure on the ballot to increase CA taxes to pay for this shit.

Now if Bernie can rein this shit in, I'm on board.

CalPERS uses contributions of the employer and the employee as well as income from investments to pay for employee retirement benefits. Employee and employer contributions are a percentage of applicable employee compensation and are made on a pre-tax basis; federal and state taxes are deferred until benefits are paid. Any investment return on an employee’s account is also tax-deferred. The investment of contributions are managed by CalPERS; therefore, employees do not bear any investment risk. Employee benefits grow with years of service and final average salary.

Perhaps before you start bitching about this, you should find out how much the employee himself contributed.

https://www.csusb.edu/human-resources/benefits/retirement/california-public-employees-retirement-system-calpers#:~:text=

 

[TSwizzle]

CalPERS uses contributions of the employer and the employee as well as income from investments to pay for employee retirement benefits. Employee and employer contributions are a percentage of applicable employee compensation and are made on a pre-tax basis; federal and state taxes are deferred until benefits are paid. Any investment return on an employee’s account is also tax-deferred. The investment of contributions are managed by CalPERS; therefore, employees do not bear any investment risk. Employee benefits grow with years of service and final average salary.

Must be nice. My 401k just went down the shitter this week.

 

[DBT]

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Health care CEOs took home $2.6 billion in 2018

So how much of this is owed to you?

The question is how much is owed the people who do the hard yards creating the wealth, but not being on the board of directors are not in a position to set their own pay rates.....the workers.

 

[Half-Life]

OP,

Let's look at Oracle for example. The CEO gets 216 million. Oracle has 136,000 employees according to google. If we give that 216 million to all 136,000 employees, they would each get a check for $1,588.24.

Does that solve poverty in any way? No, it doesn't. You can do this for all the companies and see the employees would still be getting peanuts.

What is your solution to this? Is it the CEO's fault that they are in a position to earn that much? They worked hard and earned it. If you don't like it, then you work hard and you become a CEO. The solution isn't to lick their boots and demand they give you their money. The solution is to get a better education and work your way up.

Doesn't it seem odd to you that the only people who complain about the income inequality are the lazy workers of society who work in dead end jobs? People who own their own businesses and actually work hard don't want people stealing their money.

Everyone who works at a company is working there because a rich person decided to take a chance and open a company. The people should be thankful, not jealous of their stuff. People who complain about working at 711 would be changing their tune real quick if the owner all of a sudden said, "I'm closing this store down." The workers would be like, "WHAT?!?! WE NEED THIS JOB!!!" This proves we need the rich to give jobs to the poor people.

A lot of workers also complain about working at Amazon. They say they are treated terribly and Bezos is a greedy man who doesn't care about them. So, what would they say if Bezos decided to shut down Amazon and retire? "WE NEED THIS JOB!!! HOW DARE BEZOS SHUT DOWN AND RETIRE!!!! HE CAN AFFORD IT BUT WE CAN'T!!!! HE'S A GREEDY GREEDY MAN!!!"

See? Damned if they keep the business open, damned if they close the business down. Sounds to me that the workers who work at Amazon need Bezos.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

So how much of this is owed to you?

Blindness becomes you.

It's a legitimate question you are ducking.

 

[barbos]

These are not CEOs, these are top CEOs.
And I don't see any data that proves that their pay is growing. What was Oracle CEO salary in 1978? and how large the company were?

 

[DBT]

So how much of this is owed to you?

Blindness becomes you.

It's a legitimate question you are ducking.

The answer is that it is those who have their hands on the purse strings, board of directors, management, etc, that are able to set salary packages and wage levels for employees. Workers are not in that position. Rather than a matter of 'owing' it is an issue of power imbalance. Individual workers don't have the negotiating power. Collectively, with a strong union, it is a different matter.

 

[DBT]

These are not CEOs, these are top CEOs.
And I don't see any data that proves that their pay is growing. What was Oracle CEO salary in 1978? and how large the company were?

Extreme wealth is accumulating in the top few percent of the worlds population. A small percentage of the population who practically have the bulk of the wealth of nations in their hands.

 

[Harry Bosch]

These are not CEOs, these are top CEOs.
And I don't see any data that proves that their pay is growing. What was Oracle CEO salary in 1978? and how large the company were?

Extreme wealth is accumulating in the top few percent of the worlds population. A small percentage of the population who practically have the bulk of the wealth of nations in their hands.

Agreed. We should knock those top 1% people down a notch. The world's top 1% salary Holligans is $32,400 per year.

 

[DBT]

These are not CEOs, these are top CEOs.
And I don't see any data that proves that their pay is growing. What was Oracle CEO salary in 1978? and how large the company were?

Extreme wealth is accumulating in the top few percent of the worlds population. A small percentage of the population who practically have the bulk of the wealth of nations in their hands.

Agreed. We should knock those top 1% people down a notch. The world's top 1% salary Holligans is $32,400 per year.

Oh, dear, the poor, poor rich, how do they survive.....maybe we should donate in order to boost their income....or reduce our own incomes so they can do better? I think that your figure involves a bit of highly creative accounting. Just like when it comes to paying taxes....the cleaner may be paying a higher percentage of their wages in tax than someone like Buffet.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Agreed. We should knock those top 1% people down a notch. The world's top 1% salary Holligans is $32,400 per year.

I think that your figure involves a bit of highly creative accounting. Just like when it comes to paying taxes....the cleaner may be paying a higher percentage of their wages in tax than someone like Buffet.

The top 1% of salary workers earned $32,400 per year:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050615/are-you-top-one-percent-world.asp

 

[DBT]

Agreed. We should knock those top 1% people down a notch. The world's top 1% salary Holligans is $32,400 per year.

I think that your figure involves a bit of highly creative accounting. Just like when it comes to paying taxes....the cleaner may be paying a higher percentage of their wages in tax than someone like Buffet.

The top 1% of salary workers earned $32,400 per year:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050615/are-you-top-one-percent-world.asp

That comparison is between the average wage in developed nations and income in the third world.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Reality check time: Mike Hurd has an actual salary of $950k. He also got a bonus of $3.7m.

What is being reported as his income is actually stock options--which in reality reflect performance bonuses for multiple years that get paid in one year. The money made from options should actually be allocated over the years from when the options were offered and when they were exercised.

Of course the people that make the charts like the one in the OP aren't interested in telling the truth, but in making it look as dramatic as possible.

 

[DBT]

Bonuses are not necessarily related to performance...as the GFC clearly demonstrated.

 

[Trausti]