Throw the CEO a bone ...

CEO pay has often been the topic of heated discussion on TV shows, magazines, newspapers and at coffee shops - Especially recently, with the scandals at Enron and Disney.

I personally believe that CEOs deserve every penny that they make - In salary, stock and everything that is linked to company performance. I do not think they should get the bloated severance pays that has become the norm recently. CEOs that were kicked out for non-performance ended up walking out with Millions of dollars. The Merck dude, the HP dudette, the Disney dude et al.

A great CEO is a sight to behold.
An inspiration, the person who never tires, the person who sets the direction and strategic vision for an ENTIRE company. I find that amazing !

Once when Lee Ioacocca, then CEO of Chrysler was asked why he was paid so much, he had a phenomenal answer - "How do you define my salary as being too big ? Especially when the owner of a large Chrysler dealership makes more money than me !"

Isnt that true ?!
I know of petrol pump owners who are richer than Indian Oil's chairman, personally.

Of course, the entrepreneurs have much more at stake, after all, its their own money they have invested in their company.

On the other hand, the pressures on a CEO, especially with the retarded Sarbanes Oxley act are immense as well.

So, heres to more performance linked pay schedules and less out of the world severance packages ....

Comments

Anonymous said…
I don't know how or why those huge severance packages started. Could you see that happen in any other situation? "I'm sorry, Bob, but you just aren't flipping those burgers fast enough. You're fired. Here's $10,000 and $500 in stock options."
Ideamani said…
I guess they started as a way of attracting executives to become CEO's of companies that were'nt exactly on the right track.

For example, getting a really well qualified person to be CEO of US Air today would be quite difficult as they could go to American Airlines and make the same money with a lot less risk.

With severance pay, they are sort of guaranteed that even if they cant turn the company around (which might have been an impossible task to begin with), they would walk away with a lot of money.

However, things started going badly when every CEO started demanding huge packages !
Anonymous said…
I think most companies just obey the law when they offer *typical* severance packages to their employees. Of course, like everything else, in the high tech sector, you have to learn to negotiate your severance package before you get in. As for exorbitant packages, it depends on the CEO's negotiation skills and the company policy. For example, I personally don't think that Carly Fiorina's package was too exorbitant. In fact, if you read into it, you'll find that most experts found it to be "below" the standard, which is approximately 3 times the annual pay and bonus.

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