Buffett blasts excessive executive pay

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=0b22c606be75d20a&cat=3a8a80d6f705f8cc

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett used his latest annual letter to shareholders to blast excessive executive pay, a ballooning U.S. trade deficit and rising fees for professional money managers.
"Too often executive compensation in the U.S. is ridiculously out of line with performance," said Buffett in his 2005 letter. See full text of Buffett's letter.
Buffett said the problem lies in the way executive compensation is decided.
"Huge severance payments, lavish perks and outsized payments for ho-hum performance often occur because comp committees have become slaves to comparative data."
more...
Its a DISGRACE!!!

[Catch22Dem]

1. Good man

And ultimately my boss.

[Warpy]

2. The unrestained greed is making too many people angry

and that eventually will queer Buffett's soft deal, and he knows it. Small and large investors alike are beginning to rebel against legalized embezzlement (no other word for it) by upper management in big corporations, the offshoring of jobs while charging prices for goods and services that reflect manufacture within the US and the execs pocketing the difference.

It's an unsustainable system, floated only on a vast ocean of unsecured debt that is largely uncollectable, and that means if something doesn't radically change, the whole edifice will come tumbling down rather quickly.

People have already lost hope for themselves, and faith in the system is soon to follow. When that happens, there will be insufficient hot air and wishful thinking to support any of it, and down it will come.

[JDPriestly]

4. Well said. Thanks.

[lyonn]

17. Your observation that the jobs are outsourced but the prices

here for the goods made elsewhere are as high compared to when they were U.S. made is a good one. Some tools, drills, are cheaper but are pieces of crap.

[MercutioATC]

3. Please correct me if I'm wrong...

This is the man who contributes nothing but buying, dismantling, and selling corporations. I'm all for free enterprise, but I don't think Buffet has a right to any "honor" in a political sense.

[acmavm]

5. I also understand he's a large investor (or whatever it's called) in

foreign currency.

[IrishBloodEngHeart]

6. he's an excellent investor in companies

and is a very good manager of them.

His genius is he believes in the long term, and looks at long term value and return, rather than managing to stock price, like most corporate heads.

[gizmo1979]

11. What has Buffet done for us lately?

Just because he drives a crap car and tries to act like a regular guy sometimes,doesn't make him any better.I want to know how much he gives to charity.Just another rich republican.

[IronLionZion]

23. nope, he's a Democrat

and not just "rich". Only Bill Gates is richer.

[gizmo1979]

29. He praised Obama

in an article just today in USA Today.I guess I naturally lumped him with the other rich a holes I stand corrected.

[spooky3]

25. as I understand it, his will leaves a ton to charity

[NuttyFluffers]

26. from what i've read he's not a big strip miner of corps.

more of a corporation turn around investor; takes companies in trouble and turns them into profitable enterprises by long term strategy. but that's only what i've read, maybe there's more that i never got around to seeing. if you could help me where to start looking for his routine corporation cannabilism i'd much appreciate. :)

[Buck Rabbit]

28. You're wrong.

He buys and holds. Insists on sound management. Is picky about what he buys.

This guy is always the smartest guy in the room, even if he is too humble to say so. A billionaire Democrat, a truly good guy.

He makes terrific sense on important issues like the stupidity of trading the wealth and ownership of our infrastucture for cheap consumer trinkets.

[Scooter24]

7. Walmart pays its CEO over $13 Million

per year which includes bonuses and stock options. I believe his salary alone is almost $2 million.

The company also picks up the tab for executive's health insurance among many other executive perks.

As for money managers, it was just a few years ago when Harvard paid two fund managers over $34 million each in bonuses.

[corporate_mike]

9. Yahoo paid CEO $109,301,385 in 2004

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/paywatch/

[lovuian]

10. These salaries are outrageous and yet we can't pay

Americans for work here we have to outsource... this is going to haunt America ......

[calimary]

16. Costco's CEO gauges his salary as 12 times what the guy on the loading

dock gets. He figures that's enough. He's also got a very well-run company.

[Doremus]

19. I love that guy. Too bad there aren't more like him. n/t

[Orsino]

21. I knew I liked Costco. I just didn't know I should love them. n/t

[cliss]

8. So......Mr. Warren Buffet...

how much did you make last year? And while you're at it, don't forget to include

a)stock dividende
b) profit sharing
c) perks
d) expense reports
e) other discretionary income

[Hoping4Change]

15. You obviously like to jump to conclusions with no facts.

Buffet though wealthy lives in a modest home and has set up a philanthropic organization to which he has bequeathed his money at his death. He has stated that his kids with whom he has a good relationship have been raised to know that they have been given excellent educations and many advantages so it will up to them to make their own way. Furthermore Buffett has been a vociferous opponent of Bushes tax cuts for the wealthy. In interviews prior to the last election he went in great detail how his secretary would be paying more in taxes than he or others in his same tax bracket.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. Wow. A 100% "death tax." The guy's obviously a filthy Communist.

:sarcasm:

[Blue_Tires]

27. good to see you again CPD

been wondering where you've been for awhile

[Schema Thing]

22. Irrelevant to his point

Buffet is not condemning personal wealth.

[hippiechick]

12. Um, yes.

My company (Conseco Insurance) decided that since it was a year of 'rebuilding' for the company, and with so much devastation across the country, that they would take what would have been the employees' Christmas Bonus and give it to select charities (not only a tax write off, but none of us had any say in which charities got the dough).

Did they ever stop to think how many of the hourly folks count on that bonus to buy gifts for their kids, or food for the family Christmas meal? Apparently, despite how shitty our pay is, we don't qualify as a 'charity', although we damn sure should in alot of cases.

THEN, they turn around and award our CEO - who's only been CEO for a year a $900k bonus. WTF?

I sent an email to corporate relations stating that they could have taken that $900k, given each of the 1800 employees a $100 check, making us all deliriously happy and fired up to continue working for the company into 2006, and Kirsch could still have had $700k - a pretty damn nice Christmas present. No reply.


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[yorgatron]

14. what? oh,you're talking about WARREN Buffet

not Jimmy Buffet,who has no qualms about accepting $1 million dolars to play Dennis Kozlowski's wife's birthday party... :eyes:

[Auntie Bush]

13. And these corporations and the administration say they have to cut

benefits, salaries, retirement, health Insurance etc. so they can compete globally. Bullsh** ! CAP the CEO salary, benefits and retirement and that would go a long way toward making them profitable.

[pat_k]

18. Excessive pay pales next to the devastating effects of asset hyperflation

Asset hyperflation is like the dirty little secret no one talks about.

Going after irresponsible and greedy executives personally for their excessive and corrupting compensation packages if far more effective than attacking abstract "corporate power." But if we want to save our economy from complete collapse, we must go after the criminals in the administration, starting right now with the impeachment of Bush and Cheney.

As long as they remain in power, they will continue their phenomenal expansion of the money supply. The resulting asset hyperflation may line the pockets of the powerful, but it isn't sustainable. They'll just keep expanding the money supply until it all comes crashing down. Reality never stops them -- we can only stop them by forcing them from office.

For more on the devastating effects of asset hyperflatiion, see http://www.investmentrarities.com/bestofjimcook07-04-05.html

[Zynx]

24. If CEO pay were cut by 50% they would still make too much.

Shareholders should be as pissed as I am since excessive executive pay dents earnings and reduces the share prices of companies as a result. Even worse is that it results in the layoffs of low income employees who are the most dispensable when they do their "cost cuts" to keep CEO pay high.