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Exactly - all these articles about CEO compensation are misleading. Case in point: Intel's CEO's 2021 salary was reported as almost $180M. In reality, he got o

Exactly - all these articles about CEO compensation are misleading. Case in point: Intel's CEO's 2021 salary was reported as almost $180M. In reality, he got only about $10M. He hit literally none of the targets that would allow him to get the rest of the compensation (although in theory he has a few years to hit those targets).

groby_b 4y ago
To be fair, if I could get paid $10M for not hitting any of my goals, I sure wouldn't complain.
- dylan604 4y ago
  To be fair, I don't think the CEO is complaining either
  - drunkpotato 4y ago
    He doesn't even pay people to complain for him, they're so deluded they do it for free.
kemitchell 4y ago
It’s case by case. I have seen some accurate CEO comp headlines. Some publications certainly bat better than others. As for Intel: $10m a year is still a lot of money. I have also heard that targets are occasionally hit. ;-D
- pc86 4y ago
  > $10m a year is still a lot of money In absolute terms, 100% yes it is. In "CEO of a major corporation most people in the world have heard about," it's basically nothing.
  - paulryanrogers 4y ago
    > In "CEO of a major corporation most people in the world have heard about," it's basically nothing. Perhaps CEO pay is beyond the pale generally, and these are obscene expectations.
    - pc86 4y ago
      Certainly a point worth making, and I might even be inclined to agree, but I think my point stands. Comparing against similarly noteworthy companies, Intel's CEO doesn't make all that much.
  - bumby 4y ago
    Not scientific and maybe inaccurate, but a quick Google search showed the average Intel employee makes $100k. The shift in social norms where 100x the average employee (of a tech firm, which skews towards high salaries) is considered “basically nothing” is something worth talking about.
    - sumedh 4y ago
      > is considered “basically nothing” is something worth talking about. Except if the CEO screws up the company goes bankrupt and people lose their jobs. Look at Nokia and RIM.
      - cudgy 4y ago
        Nokia and RIM got clocked by the iPhone. I don’t care who their CEO could have been, these companies were on the downward trend and headed for tough times.
        sumedh 4y ago
        > these companies were on the downward trend and headed for tough times. Exactly why you need a good CEO at the top to understand that the landscape has changed with a new competitor but Nokia and RIM failed to adapt.
actually_a_dog 4y ago
"Only $10M." Right. In a country where the median full time, year round worker makes $56k per year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...
- blargey 4y ago
  In more hackernewsian terms, $10 million sitting in an investment account will outearn most software developers. Their salary has a higher salary than you.
  - sooheon 4y ago
    That's a hilarious way to put it, thanks.
  - procavia 4y ago
    > Their salary has a higher salary than you. I’m stealing this line
hosh 4y ago
That speaks to another point though -- the incentive to return shareholder value, often times to the detriment to the company, the employees, the customers, and sometimes to public safety.
- just_boost_it 4y ago
  Well, the shareholders provided the money that allows any of it to exist at all. If there's was nothing flowing back, there'd be nothing for institutional investors. IPOs would be worthless which means there'd be no exit for VCs. Everyone would love to just get money with no obligation to give anything back, but that's not the way the world works.
  - hosh 4y ago
    The idea that companies should maximize return on shareholder value has only been around since around the late 70s. It wasn’t always like that.
cudgy 4y ago
Only 10M to fail to meet any benchmarks? Now that is a nice performance plan … for the CEO!

groby_b 4y ago

To be fair, if I could get paid $10M for not hitting any of my goals, I sure wouldn't complain.

dylan604 4y ago
To be fair, I don't think the CEO is complaining either
- drunkpotato 4y ago
  He doesn't even pay people to complain for him, they're so deluded they do it for free.

kemitchell 4y ago

It’s case by case. I have seen some accurate CEO comp headlines. Some publications certainly bat better than others. As for Intel: $10m a year is still a lot of money. I have also heard that targets are occasionally hit. ;-D

pc86 4y ago
> $10m a year is still a lot of money In absolute terms, 100% yes it is. In "CEO of a major corporation most people in the world have heard about," it's basically nothing.
- paulryanrogers 4y ago
  > In "CEO of a major corporation most people in the world have heard about," it's basically nothing. Perhaps CEO pay is beyond the pale generally, and these are obscene expectations.
  - pc86 4y ago
    Certainly a point worth making, and I might even be inclined to agree, but I think my point stands. Comparing against similarly noteworthy companies, Intel's CEO doesn't make all that much.
- bumby 4y ago
  Not scientific and maybe inaccurate, but a quick Google search showed the average Intel employee makes $100k. The shift in social norms where 100x the average employee (of a tech firm, which skews towards high salaries) is considered “basically nothing” is something worth talking about.
  - sumedh 4y ago
    > is considered “basically nothing” is something worth talking about. Except if the CEO screws up the company goes bankrupt and people lose their jobs. Look at Nokia and RIM.
    - cudgy 4y ago
      Nokia and RIM got clocked by the iPhone. I don’t care who their CEO could have been, these companies were on the downward trend and headed for tough times.
      - sumedh 4y ago
        > these companies were on the downward trend and headed for tough times. Exactly why you need a good CEO at the top to understand that the landscape has changed with a new competitor but Nokia and RIM failed to adapt.

actually_a_dog 4y ago

"Only $10M." Right. In a country where the median full time, year round worker makes $56k per year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_...

blargey 4y ago
In more hackernewsian terms, $10 million sitting in an investment account will outearn most software developers. Their salary has a higher salary than you.
- sooheon 4y ago
  That's a hilarious way to put it, thanks.
- procavia 4y ago
  > Their salary has a higher salary than you. I’m stealing this line

hosh 4y ago

That speaks to another point though -- the incentive to return shareholder value, often times to the detriment to the company, the employees, the customers, and sometimes to public safety.

just_boost_it 4y ago
Well, the shareholders provided the money that allows any of it to exist at all. If there's was nothing flowing back, there'd be nothing for institutional investors. IPOs would be worthless which means there'd be no exit for VCs. Everyone would love to just get money with no obligation to give anything back, but that's not the way the world works.
- hosh 4y ago
  The idea that companies should maximize return on shareholder value has only been around since around the late 70s. It wasn’t always like that.

cudgy 4y ago

Only 10M to fail to meet any benchmarks? Now that is a nice performance plan … for the CEO!