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If Amazon’s board decided to reallocate the CEO’s compensation package and grant it to employees, it would increase the entry level salaries of warehouse worker

If Amazon’s board decided to reallocate the CEO’s compensation package and grant it to employees, it would increase the entry level salaries of warehouse workers from $18/hour to $18.45/hour. Not a bad bump, but also historically low by Amazon pay bumps. But it’s also not going to solve income inequality… And very likely there are few people qualified to be CEO of Amazon who’d do the job for $18.45/hour.

daenz 4y ago
Not to mention the financial fallout of not having an experienced leader at the helm. Sure, it would coast for awhile without a leader, and I'm sure someone will try to explain to me how it could be run completely democratically, but eventually a competitor with a competent leader would eat their lunch.
- tsimionescu 4y ago
  I know one or two democratic countries that are doing OK despite being democratic. Democracy doesn't have to be leaderless: we have a good few hundred years of experience in running entities many times more complex than a company using democratic processes, appointing leaders by vote etc.
  - daenz 4y ago
    I don't want the companies providing essential goods and services to run as inefficiently as governments do. It would be disastrous.
    - tsimionescu 4y ago
      There are many more governments than companies providing essential goods and services. And in times of crisis (say, flooding or fires), it's the military and other government entities that have to step in to fix things, never private companies.
jonplackett 4y ago
Don’t confuse compensation with his wealth. CEOs often have hardly any salary. But his shares nearly doubled in value over the pandemic - increasing by $84 billion. Divide those billions per employee instead and they get $84,000 each. And Bezos is still as rich as he was before the pandemic.
- lubos 4y ago
  Amazon stock price is currently back to where it was before the pandemic. Look at the charts.
- jdavis703 4y ago
  The CEO of Amazon has a $212mm compensation package. That’s what I based my estimate off. And I’m sure we can all agree that $212mm is more than “hardly any salary.” I could retire on that amount, have my alma matter name a building after me and still have more money than I know what to do with.
  - philwelch 4y ago
    Jeff Bezos isn't the CEO of Amazon anymore.
    - jdavis703 4y ago
      What is the board supposed to do then? Dilute Bezo’s and everyone else’s holdings?
      - philwelch 4y ago
        I don't think the board is doing anything wrong, personally. I just don't think Jeff Bezos' income was ever anything close to what Andy Jassy is making, for the exact same reasons that Tim Cook's income is higher than Steve Jobs'.
  - pjbeam 4y ago
    Divide that by 10--that's Andy's 10 year RSU grant, not his annual comp.
zem 4y ago
the issue here is owner compensation, not CEO compensation. that is, wealth accrued by virtue of "owning" a company that other people are merely "employees" adding value to, but not receiving any of that value.
- daenz 4y ago
  Anyone can buy Amazon stock. Then you own some of the company and will benefit financially if the value goes up!
  - jeromegv 4y ago
    So you're advocating for employees to "buy" stock from where they work in order to get compensated?
    - daenz 4y ago
      >in order to get compensated That language is based on the assumption that they're not already being compensated. Their compensation is what they agreed to accept as payment for their labor. So they're already being compensated. If they want to "own" part of the company outside of this agreement, they need to buy a piece of it. If you want that as part of your employment agreement, negotiate it beforehand, either individually, or as part of a union effort. If you can't negotiate it through those efforts, then accept the fact that the employer believes they can get a better deal on the labor.
      - CPLX 4y ago
        daenz 4y ago
        >Or you can grab some torches and sharp objects and hold them to his throat and change the terms of the negotiation. Do all of your employees at From Day One own a portion of the company? Why shouldn't they "hold sharp objects to your throat", as the founder, to get a better deal than what they agreed to? If not, why not?
kareemsabri 4y ago
This is technically true, but of course there are many other methods of increasing warehouse worker pay beyond reallocating the CEO's compensation package. The pie is not zero sum. For example, stock splits often result in market cap increases due to more liquidity / access. Amazon could issue some (or more?) stock options to its employees in the warehouse or elsewhere if they desired to do so, and it's not a foregone conclusion it would adversely affect their ability to retain a top tier CEO. Who knows, perhaps Amazon would see better worker retention resulting in increased efficiency if they had a more generous package for warehouse workers (not making this claim, but I disagree with the zero sum framing here).
simpsond 4y ago
Look at his sales in the last years. https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/amzn/insider-activity https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/amzn/insider-a... … he sells a few hundred thousand shares here and there, and frequently receives new shares. That is also a form income.
- bradlys 4y ago
  To be fair - many people in the billionaire class don’t sell any of their shares. The reason being that they can open pledged asset lines using those stocks - and never have to pay taxes as long as they never get called on their lines.

daenz 4y ago

Not to mention the financial fallout of not having an experienced leader at the helm. Sure, it would coast for awhile without a leader, and I'm sure someone will try to explain to me how it could be run completely democratically, but eventually a competitor with a competent leader would eat their lunch.

tsimionescu 4y ago
I know one or two democratic countries that are doing OK despite being democratic. Democracy doesn't have to be leaderless: we have a good few hundred years of experience in running entities many times more complex than a company using democratic processes, appointing leaders by vote etc.
- daenz 4y ago
  I don't want the companies providing essential goods and services to run as inefficiently as governments do. It would be disastrous.
  - tsimionescu 4y ago
    There are many more governments than companies providing essential goods and services. And in times of crisis (say, flooding or fires), it's the military and other government entities that have to step in to fix things, never private companies.

jonplackett 4y ago

Don’t confuse compensation with his wealth. CEOs often have hardly any salary. But his shares nearly doubled in value over the pandemic - increasing by $84 billion. Divide those billions per employee instead and they get $84,000 each. And Bezos is still as rich as he was before the pandemic.

lubos 4y ago
Amazon stock price is currently back to where it was before the pandemic. Look at the charts.
jdavis703 4y ago
The CEO of Amazon has a $212mm compensation package. That’s what I based my estimate off. And I’m sure we can all agree that $212mm is more than “hardly any salary.” I could retire on that amount, have my alma matter name a building after me and still have more money than I know what to do with.
- philwelch 4y ago
  Jeff Bezos isn't the CEO of Amazon anymore.
  - jdavis703 4y ago
    What is the board supposed to do then? Dilute Bezo’s and everyone else’s holdings?
    - philwelch 4y ago
      I don't think the board is doing anything wrong, personally. I just don't think Jeff Bezos' income was ever anything close to what Andy Jassy is making, for the exact same reasons that Tim Cook's income is higher than Steve Jobs'.
- pjbeam 4y ago
  Divide that by 10--that's Andy's 10 year RSU grant, not his annual comp.

zem 4y ago

the issue here is owner compensation, not CEO compensation. that is, wealth accrued by virtue of "owning" a company that other people are merely "employees" adding value to, but not receiving any of that value.

daenz 4y ago
Anyone can buy Amazon stock. Then you own some of the company and will benefit financially if the value goes up!
- jeromegv 4y ago
  So you're advocating for employees to "buy" stock from where they work in order to get compensated?
  - daenz 4y ago
    >in order to get compensated That language is based on the assumption that they're not already being compensated. Their compensation is what they agreed to accept as payment for their labor. So they're already being compensated. If they want to "own" part of the company outside of this agreement, they need to buy a piece of it. If you want that as part of your employment agreement, negotiate it beforehand, either individually, or as part of a union effort. If you can't negotiate it through those efforts, then accept the fact that the employer believes they can get a better deal on the labor.
    - CPLX 4y ago
      - daenz 4y ago
        >Or you can grab some torches and sharp objects and hold them to his throat and change the terms of the negotiation. Do all of your employees at From Day One own a portion of the company? Why shouldn't they "hold sharp objects to your throat", as the founder, to get a better deal than what they agreed to? If not, why not?

kareemsabri 4y ago

This is technically true, but of course there are many other methods of increasing warehouse worker pay beyond reallocating the CEO's compensation package. The pie is not zero sum. For example, stock splits often result in market cap increases due to more liquidity / access. Amazon could issue some (or more?) stock options to its employees in the warehouse or elsewhere if they desired to do so, and it's not a foregone conclusion it would adversely affect their ability to retain a top tier CEO. Who knows, perhaps Amazon would see better worker retention resulting in increased efficiency if they had a more generous package for warehouse workers (not making this claim, but I disagree with the zero sum framing here).

simpsond 4y ago

Look at his sales in the last years. https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/amzn/insider-activity https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/amzn/insider-a... … he sells a few hundred thousand shares here and there, and frequently receives new shares. That is also a form income.

bradlys 4y ago
To be fair - many people in the billionaire class don’t sell any of their shares. The reason being that they can open pledged asset lines using those stocks - and never have to pay taxes as long as they never get called on their lines.