859 Executive Pay
Meet Brian Reynolds, the CEO of Comcast, the cable TV company that just bought control of NBC. A chart recently published in the Wall Street Journal put his total annual compensation, salary and all the other bells and whistles at just a shade under $25 million for 2010.
Compare that with the figure for Jeff Immelt, who heads General Electric, a company which actually DOES stuff and which sold control of NBC to Comcast. Poor Jeff. His take was only around 19 million. Don’t know how he’s going to face the neighbors.
The chart is part of a larger story about CEO pay, and which says 350 or so of them got an average raise of about 11% last year. And, to their credit, it shows the top guys at Apple, CitiGroup and whole foods took no pay at all for the covered year.
What would the average pay be and what would the average raise be if you knocked those last three guys off the list and recalculated?
Compare what’s there with the average worker. Not with the poverty level, just people who have jobs and get paid for doing them.
Unfortunately, there aren’t directly comparable figures available. But in its most recent report, the Census Bureau puts median income at around $46,000. If people at that level got an 11% raise, it would mean about five grand a year, $100 a week.
Can’t have that! Goodness, gracious! Why that’s more 50 grand a year.
Realistically, have you ever received an 11% raise? No, of course not. What would make you worth 11% more today than yesterday?
If the Wall Street Journal is crabbing about executive pay, and it is, what should the rest of us think? Oh, and by the way, Rupert Murdoch, owner of the WSJ was paid about 16.5 million.
All this stuff is positively stratospheric. C’mon guys, who is worth this kind of money even if their company does well.
NOTES: Here is the link to the Census Bureau’s American income figures. http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/hhinc/new06_000.htm
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Unfortunately, the link to the Journal’s CEO chart is proprietary and posting it probably violates some law or other. But if you want to see it for yourself, go to Google News and put this phrase in the search box: CEO Pay +11%
Shrapnel (NBC Edition):
--Congratulations to friend and former colleague Ann Curry, newly promoted to co-first-banana on the Today Show. Ann is the easiest-to-listen to news anchor on the air anywhere today. More of her is a good thing.
--Schwarzenegger and former NBC correspondent Shriver are splitsville after 25 years? So far, it’s only separation, but you know what’s next. So many rumps to pinch, so little time.
--RIP Jeff Gralnick, 72 of CBS, then ABC then NBC then ABC again then CNN then NBC again. A wild man whose style fit ABC far better than it did either CBS or NBC. But the guy knew his stuff.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com.
© WJR 2011
Meet Brian Reynolds, the CEO of Comcast, the cable TV company that just bought control of NBC. A chart recently published in the Wall Street Journal put his total annual compensation, salary and all the other bells and whistles at just a shade under $25 million for 2010.
Compare that with the figure for Jeff Immelt, who heads General Electric, a company which actually DOES stuff and which sold control of NBC to Comcast. Poor Jeff. His take was only around 19 million. Don’t know how he’s going to face the neighbors.
The chart is part of a larger story about CEO pay, and which says 350 or so of them got an average raise of about 11% last year. And, to their credit, it shows the top guys at Apple, CitiGroup and whole foods took no pay at all for the covered year.
What would the average pay be and what would the average raise be if you knocked those last three guys off the list and recalculated?
Compare what’s there with the average worker. Not with the poverty level, just people who have jobs and get paid for doing them.
Unfortunately, there aren’t directly comparable figures available. But in its most recent report, the Census Bureau puts median income at around $46,000. If people at that level got an 11% raise, it would mean about five grand a year, $100 a week.
Can’t have that! Goodness, gracious! Why that’s more 50 grand a year.
Realistically, have you ever received an 11% raise? No, of course not. What would make you worth 11% more today than yesterday?
If the Wall Street Journal is crabbing about executive pay, and it is, what should the rest of us think? Oh, and by the way, Rupert Murdoch, owner of the WSJ was paid about 16.5 million.
All this stuff is positively stratospheric. C’mon guys, who is worth this kind of money even if their company does well.
NOTES: Here is the link to the Census Bureau’s American income figures. http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/hhinc/new06_000.htm
--
Unfortunately, the link to the Journal’s CEO chart is proprietary and posting it probably violates some law or other. But if you want to see it for yourself, go to Google News and put this phrase in the search box: CEO Pay +11%
Shrapnel (NBC Edition):
--Congratulations to friend and former colleague Ann Curry, newly promoted to co-first-banana on the Today Show. Ann is the easiest-to-listen to news anchor on the air anywhere today. More of her is a good thing.
--Schwarzenegger and former NBC correspondent Shriver are splitsville after 25 years? So far, it’s only separation, but you know what’s next. So many rumps to pinch, so little time.
--RIP Jeff Gralnick, 72 of CBS, then ABC then NBC then ABC again then CNN then NBC again. A wild man whose style fit ABC far better than it did either CBS or NBC. But the guy knew his stuff.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Please address comments to wesrichards@gmail.com.
© WJR 2011
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