<p>In 1982 the ratio was 42 to 1. I guess this is a symptom of “everything-was-better-when-I-was-young”-itis but 42 to 1 strikes me as a reasonable ratio between the top guy and the regular workers. I find it hard to believe that your average CEO actually is responsible for 354 times the value to the shareholders of the average worker, but I guess that’s hard to quantify.</p>
<p>When even *Forbes<a href=“the%20self-proclaimed%20%22capitalist%20tool%22%20with%20obvious%20business-conservative%20politics”>/i</a> has some uncomplimentary things to say about CEO pay levels, that might be an indicator of something…</p>
<p>It’s crazy. Especially when they drive companies into the ground, cost employees jobs and shareholders value, and still walk away with obscene golden parachutes.</p>
<p>And a good CEO is worth far more than that. A good CEO can create millions of dollars for investors and provide tremendous benefits to consumers, not to mention paying millions of dollars of taxes. All you have to do is look at Steve Job and you can see the value of a good CEO.</p>
<p>Everyone said Jack Welch was the best CEO in America and earned every penny of the millions he made. Then he retired and somehow or other GE forgot to collapse. </p>
<p>But yes, the golden parachutes are what make me ill. As Buffet said, the most most lucrative job in America is being a failed CEO.</p>
<p>tom, the average CEO has far more skills than the average worker. That’s why he or she becomes the CEO. There is nothing from stopping anyone from being a CEO if he or she has the skills but very few people do just as very few people can play in the NFL or NBA. It’s an elite group. </p>
<p>Most CEO’s receive their pay based on the value of their shares. They receive stock options to claim the shares if the price of the shares go above the stock option price. This creates a big incentive to increase shareholder value. If I am a shareholder in a company I want the CEO’s pay tied to share price because that way I will make money too.</p>
<p>I watched firemen, emts and cops run towards a bomb yesterday but people still begrudge the fact they can retire young. CEO’s can deal with some of us thinking 354 times the average workers salary is a bit much.</p>
<p>It’s funny. The lower the gap between a CEO and an average worker, the healthier and happier the country is. </p>
<p>No wonder the income gap is growing in this country. The rich get richer while minimum wage stays at an absolutely unlivable amount. But no worries, because we’ll subsidized the working poor with welfare rather than forcing companies to pay a livable wage. It’s absolutely sickening IMO.</p>
<p>While I certainly believe that the person at the helm should be paid well, I think the gap is ridiculous. It takes every single employee to make it all work … and they should be receive a reasonable share of money. 354 times the average pay is ridiculous. My personal view is that capitalism works best with a moral and ethical society - and how such a huge gap is considered fine & dandy is beyond my own definition of moral and ethical. Just my two cents (coming from one who works her hind end off for far less than any CEO would find acceptable - but at least my boss doesn’t make anywhere near 354 times my pay).</p>
<p>The only thing worse than CEOs being highly paid is people thinking they get to decide that companies pay their employees including their CEOs too much.</p>
<p>The reality is that America’s working poor are well paid compared to the middle class of most countries.</p>
<p>^razorsharp, we are not talking about other countries. We are talking about the U.S. And the working poor are NOT well paid under any scenario. I agree with tom, romani and kelsmom about the disparity being not just unsustainable, but absolutely immoral and unethical as well.</p>
<p>There is nothing immoral or unethical about getting paid the highest salary you can. Many CEOs work for a dollar or a small amount of salary and receive compensation only if the company makes a lot of money and creates wealth for investors. If it was so easy anyone could do it including the working poor. There is nothing stopping anyone in American from being a CEO other than talent and hard work. Many many successful business started in a garage. </p>
<p>It’s none of your business or anyone else’s business how much other people make. </p>
<p>America’s working poor compete with workers in other countries and we are losing businesses because our working poor are overpaid compared to their middle class. It’s called globalization and no one can stop it.</p>
<p>Just for example, if the “average” worker makes $40,000, then the CEO makes $14,160,000, much of that probably in stock options.</p>
<p>What do the top NFL players make? Peyton Manning is making $20 million in 2013. Tom Cruise is making $75 million for the period May 2011-May 2012. IMO some CEOs (not all) are worth lots more than athletes and Hollywood celebs. I’m a sports person too.</p>
<p>CEOs aren’t the only ones overpaid, but it’s more PC (especially on cc) to pick on them than athletes and celebrities.</p>
<p>I would not pay an athlete that kind of money (I don’t go to games because I do not see the value) and there is not an actor alive making a dime from me. </p>
<p>Just because those pay scales are nuts should not make outrageous CEO compensation okay.</p>
<p>Peyton Manning is a top quarterback. Tom Cruise in a movie usually helps sell lots of movie tickets. A lot of these CEO’s are running their companies into the ground, losing money for their shareholders hand over fist. You have chosen very poor examples to compare the average CEO to. As far as Steve Jobs or Bill Gates for example, they were entrepreneurs who founded companies and built them from the ground up. They deserve every buck they made.</p>
<p>Steve Job’s salary was usually one dollar yet he was a billionaire. His wealth came from creating wealth for others. I think you could argue he was well under compensated given that he created a company that employs 47000 or so people. Would that many people have high paying jobs without one CEO named Steve Jobs? Probably not.</p>
<p>Actually Peyton Manning is a victim of someone else telling him how much he can make. The NFL has team salary caps that prevent payment to players based on their worth in the free market. The draft limits what players can make. No one seems to care because they still make a lot of money and it is in the best interests of making the team competition equal.</p>
<p>razorsharp, it says a lot about our differences that you see the main value of Steve Jobs’ legacy creating high-paying jobs for 47,000 people. I see the way he revolutionized technology for MILLIONS of people far more important.</p>
<p>And it absolutely is my right as a consumer to know, if I can find out, how a company treats its workers and compensates its leadership–and to spend my money at businesses I think are ethical in their practices.</p>
<p>I agree with you that globalization is a threat to American workers’ wages–but only if companies put profit above people. With many companies reporting record earnings and the stock market repeatedly hitting all-time highs, I have no sympathy for the CEO crying poor mouth and shipping jobs overseas or refusing to pay workers benefits. (They CAN pay a living wage if they want to.) Nor do I think American companies/CEOs should be allowed to avoid taxes by opening plants in other countries and hiding income in offshore accounts.</p>