back to article Tech firm CEOs more restrained than most at limiting personal pay

If you want to see the greatest disparity between the average worker and the CEO's pay packet, America is the place to be. But while the heads of many blue-chip US firms cash in more than most, the country's technology bosses are more abstemious. Since 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission has required publicly-traded …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    lies, damn lies and ...

    Comparing the CEO against the average of their staff is meaningless because the average salary in a tech company is way higher than the general average.

    Wake me when you've compared tech CEO packages (including equity) against the US median salary.

    1. Tom Maddox Silver badge
      Thumb Down

      Re: lies, damn lies and ...

      I don't think you understand what the word "meaningless" means. The ratio of CEO pay to the pay of the average worker in a given company is obviously different from the comparison to average worker pay in general, but it can certainly be argued that the ratio within a company is a useful metric of pay distribution.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: lies, damn lies and ...

        I meant meaningless in the context of the article. Didn't think that needed saying out loud but ...

  2. Rampant Spaniel

    It occurs to me it would be a reasonable idea to set politicians pay as a sliding multiplier of the average wage. They get scored (by an actual in.dependant panel) on criteria such as employment rates, government efficency, crime rates etc to give a multiplier, then x against the mean \ median wage for the country. That way their share our fortunes or otherwise and are rewarded based on their performance.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Ellison deserves it

    I am no fan of Oracle, and Ellison may be a class-A jerk, but I have no problem with him, or Ballmer, or their ilk earning megabucks. Love 'em or loath them, these guys stuck with their business from the start, and paid their dues.

    I do have a problem with the majority of CEOs who get the nod because of the old boy network and proceed to slurp up vast sums of money whilst not materially changing their organization's fortunes, that of their workers or the world by one iota.

    1. Rampant Spaniel

      Re: Ellison deserves it

      That's not entirely fair, many of them turn up and insist on stamping their own identity on an already well setup company. They then proceed to screw it up, get paid a fortune to leave and land a choice job elsewhere.

  4. Superba Frango

    Ratio is understated

    You have to keep in mind that most electronics companies like Oracle have outsourced a significant portion of the manpower used to bring their product to market, and therefore artificially have raised the rate of "average worker salary". 30 years ago, it was company badged people who built the thing, manned the phones, and cleaned the toilets. Now all of these have been "outsourced" to low cost regions (China for the manufacturing, India for the call centers) or US based outsourcing firms (janitorial firms, security firms, etc.). So these are no longer "worker salaries" for the company...they are Cost of Good sold, G&A, etc. So figure in the $2K a year line worker, the $6K a year call center person, the $28K a year janitor and see what the ratios are now!

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