AVERAGE CEO'S YEARLY PAY IN DELAWARE: $20 MILLION

[cyberpj]

Note to DE forum DUers, this is from last weeks Sunday paper but I didn't want to miss posting it here for future reference. There was also an informative chart/grapic but that wasn't posted online. If I find time, I may scan it and post it here later.

Also - just wanted to note - our family "pay" has decreased over the past few years* - if you add in the increase we now pay for medical and other benefits, we're getting close to talking about a 30% decrease!

*IT husband laid off during outsourcing then found new job for less than historically provided

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AVERAGE CEO'S YEARLY PAY IN DELAWARE: $20 MILLION
Delaware's top 20 employers
Salary increases for chief executives 3.75 times larger than average wage hikes for Del. workers

By TED GRIFFITH / The News Journal
05/01/2005
Last year was a good one for the chief executives of Delaware's largest private employers.

CEOs, on average, took home $20.3 million in 2004, or 478 times the average Delaware worker's salary of $42,449, according to a News Journal study of filings by the state's top 20 employers with publicly traded shares. And the average 15 percent pay hike received by CEOs was 3.75 times larger than the average increase received by Delaware workers.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050501/BUSINESS/505010340/1003

[entanglement]

1. Ask neoliberal economists and they'll tell you

these CEOs 'deserve' every dollar of the obscene pay they get because it's 'market forces' at work. :puke:

[cyberpj]

4. Why would I ask them? I want to demand the Dems go back to

Dem roots and start taking care of the people again! They have let this happen and supported it with their silence on the issue.

[entanglement]

5. Agree, support for unchecked corporatism is bipartisan n/t

[unhappycamper]

2. The AFL/CIO web site has a section on executive paywatch

"The CEO and you" link is pretty interesting.

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

For example:

Bruce L. Hammonds
CEO and President
MBNA Corp.

In 2004, Bruce L. Hammonds raked in $12,695,947 in total compensation including stock option grants from MBNA Corp..

From previous years' stock option grants, the MBNA Corp. executive cashed out $9,611,547 in stock option exercises.

And Bruce L. Hammonds has another $69,916,764 in unexercised stock options from previous years.

If you made $75,000 last year, then:

Bruce L. Hammonds's compensation could support 169 workers earning your salary.

You would have to work 169 years to equal Bruce L. Hammonds's 2004 compensation.

You'd better get working, because you can't take a vacation until 2174 A.D.

[cyberpj]

6. Good source for info but I'm so tired of being told I have to do the work

Everything suggested on this page is for overworked, overwhelmed "us" to do when we have little or no time to do these things.

Why isn't a first step to vote to replace our lifetime long-term congresspeople who are no longer looking out for the interest of their contituents?

I understand the power of grassroots activism but there's a limit to how much people can do, especially when their available time for that activity is already so limited.

(I'm angry today and tired of doing it all!)

http://www.aflcio.org/corporateamerica/paywatch/what2do/index.cfm

[zoeb]

3. I'm all for privatizing Social security if we

hold these CEO's accountable for returning half of the salaries back to the employees that made them profitable. If the average worker was earning $100k a year they could afford to invest in mutual funds. If these billion dollar corporations were forced to create and maintain matching 401k plans for all employees then there wouldn't be a need for social security.