Might it be *harmful* to pay CEOs so much?

Posted by Sir Four at 5:34pm Mar 13 '09
You must sign in to send Sir Four a message
It is said by those on the right that corporations must pay their CEOs millions of dollars per year in order to attract the best talent and best serve the interests of the corporation. It is said by those on the left that such compensation is outrageously high, especially given that workers on the lowest rungs are forever asked to work more for less pay.

But what if the real issue is that the explosion of CEO compensation is actually detrimental to the health of the company? We've had a situation where a CEO can amass so much wealth so quickly that it hardly matters whether the company tanks in a few years and he's out a job. If he's sucked out a hundred million bucks from the company and into his personal accounts, he's pretty well set for life. Or maybe some other sucker company will take him on.

What if CEO pay were something like $300k/year. That's enough to live very comfortably, yet not so much that she doesn't worry about the company's long-term health. In this way, her financial future is tied to the company's financial future. She has that much more incentive to work hard and do everything right to ensure this nicely paying job is around for many years to come.

Am I wrong?
There are 13 private posts in this thread. You need to sign in to read them.

You currently have read-only access to this board. You must request an account to join the conversation.

Why Join 4thKingdom?

Note that there are no ads here. Just intelligent and friendly conversation. We keep the spam out, the trolls out, the advertisers out… 4K is just a low-key, old-fashioned site with members from around the world.
This community began in 1998, and we continue to accept new members today.

Hot Discussion Topics: