Forum Post: Once a King Always a King BUT 40 Times My Pay is ENOUGH!!
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 20, 2011, 1:01 a.m. EST by vettezeppelin
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In 1969 the average CEO made 40 times what the average worker made, now they make over 400 times what the average worker makes. There should be a law that prohibits any 1 individual from making more than 40 times what the average wages are in the organization they are in. You can still make as much as you want through hard work but you will have to take your employees up with you and isn't that true fairness!?!
Interesting chart:
http://pic80.picturetrail.com/VOL2135/12119137/23814685/397041923.jpg
Wait! Everyone in the mainstream media told me real wages have continued to rise since the deregulation of the 1980's. They wouldn't have lied to us would they?
In all seriousness, I have seen these figures and it's very disturbing. I feel if we are going to ever make any real progress as a society, wages need to increase with increased productivity and technology. Call me Socialist if you want, but isn't the whole point of dividing our labor to benefit mankind. The market works well for determining prices, but some of this surplus needs to be redistributed to everyone.
The article below is on of the reasons I supporting OWS. This is only one of many, many obscene stories about the 1%
SAN FRANCISCO -- Recently fired Hewlett-Packard CEO Leo Apotheker is walking away with more than $13 million in cash and stock as shareholders stew over a rocky reign that saw the technology company's market value plunge by nearly $40 billion in just 11 months. The parting package spelled out Thursday in a regulatory filing wasn't surprising. Most major companies guarantee generous payments to ousted executives as long as they aren't dumped for unethical or criminal conduct. Nevertheless, the details of Apotheker's jackpot probably won't soothe the hard feelings still lingering over Hewlett-Packard Co.'s decision to hire him in the first place. Apotheker replaced Mark Hurd, who was ushered out in August 2010 in a scandal triggered by unproven allegations of sexual harassment. Hurd's severance included a $12.2 million cash payment and $30 million worth of stock that he got by exercising options after his resignation. HP's stock price more than doubled during Hurd's five-year stint as CEO, adding about $50 billion to the company's market value.
HP's shares fell by 46 percent during Apotheker's tenure, which ended Sept. 22. The shares closed Thursday at $23.78. Despite the missteps that got him fired, Apotheker still will get a $2.4 million bonus later this year under HP's "pay-for-results" plan, according to a company filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Apotheker also will receive $7.2 million in severance payments over the next 18 months and the vesting rights to 156,000 shares of restricted stock currently worth about $3.7 million. The value of Apotheker's other stock awards will depend on how the company fares in the next few years. Apotheker, who moved from Europe to work at HP's Palo Calif. headquarters, apparently will be watching how the company does without him from abroad. HP also is paying his relocation expenses to France or Belgium, and will cover up to $300,000 on any loss that he suffers from the sale of his California home.
Stop “C” level executives from looting public companies. Stock options and Golden Parachutes are insidious methods to siphon shareholder equity and encourage outsize risk by executives with no downside personal financial stake. If a “C” level executive is “all that”, then he should be confident enough to buy the stock of his firm and he and his family should be willing to refrain from selling any stock in the company long or short for the duration of his employment or board membership. The sale of company stock by insiders is a direct conflict with their fiduciary obligations to the other shareholders. Paying proprietary scale rewards to people who have no proportionate proprietary risk position is bad business, and this abuse cries out for legislative action since the cronyism of corporate boards seems to be incapable of reasonable self-governance.
Agreed, and I particularly like the statement -- you can still make as much as you want through hard work but you will have to take your employees up with you -- so perhaps you would consider our group's proposal of an alternative online direct democracy of government and business at http://getsatisfaction.com/americanselect/topics/on_strategically_weighted_policies_organizational_operating_structures_tactical_investment_procedures-448eo , hit the facebook “like” button if agreed, and then join our group's 20 members committed to that plan at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StrategicInternationalSystems/
This is a good idea.