100 highest paid CEOs

a reply to: onequestion

You get the torches, I'll grab the pitchforks and we can "get 'em!"

But will we have to worry about who will get us when we have all their money?

originally posted by: tavi45
a reply to: Metallicus

So the Walton kids deserve their pay too? They sure as hell built nothing at all. Their daddy did the work. All they've done is destroy the middle class, the small business owners, and the rights of workers everywhere. Teddy Roosevelt is floating around somewhere frothing at the mouth with anger. Everything he fought for is just gone.

It's sad how all the ideals of America are just dead and give except the bad ones. We kept the racism, greed, and warmongering but dropped the opportunity, equal rights, and democracy.

What the heck do the Walton kids have to do with how much Larry Ellison gets paid by the company he founded and built from the ground up? How about you get in the same ballpark with your argument before we play? Good God, man, lol.

The term "money junkies" springs to mind!
There are those who crave money. They can never have enough and the more they get, the more they want or demand. It gives them a high as much as any heroin addict sticking a needle in their arm.

The top levels of the corporate and banking world are rife with these junkies. Many go from one CEO position to another whether deserved or not. My company's board this year sacked the CEO and he walked away with $17-18Million after less than 2 years at the top. Nice work if you are "in the club", so to speak!

Does anyone "deserve" these astronomical amounts? Of course not, after all, the corporations they head up are nothing without the layers or workers doing the work and bringing in the revenue. Those same workers will be cast aside at the first opportunity by the CEO's too if they can find someone the other side of the planet to do the same job for 80% less pay and no benefits. Hell, they'll even get a fat bonus for increasing the profits.

However, the damage being done to national level economies by these money junkies is staggering. They are embedded in government to ensure regulation doesn't hurt the bottom line, to ensure tax avoidance is allowed for the few due to the deliberate loopholes in the system, and generally that the politicians keep their distance, often with the promise of a board level job or a nod and a wink on anything that will impact share prices.

It's really a screwed up and often criminal playground for the big boys at the top and would have made Al Capone jealous.

a reply to: Metallicus

I am in the same ballpark. The vast vast majority of CEOs did not build their company. They were given leadership of an already existing company. The Walton kids are not CEOs but the 2nd largest company in the world's founder is dead.

originally posted by: ManBehindTheMask
I think the biggest problem in America is gov intervention and over regulation in the private sector..

IE gov over reach....

You want to kill the US economy any worse then what it is and drive companies over seas even more?

Start letting the gov tell them what they can make.....

Yes companies that pay 100,000,000 to one person definitely need to be left alone. I mean that makes perfect since, pay the builders and sellers min wage while the CEO gets 100mil.

Yes if the big corporations only had more money then they would create more mid income jobs, right?

Oh wait, that is what Regan told us, and guess what the big corporations lied. They eliminated every mid level job they could, often outsourcing to foreign companies for less pay. They invest in technology that only further eliminate labor and puts more money in the shareholders pockets.

The banks and the hoarders of money have killed the economy. It is most certainly time to go back to highly regulated and highly taxed mega corporations.

Apparently you like Reganomics where the big corporations promise to care about the people but in reality are only interested in providing more wealth to the already insanely wealthy shareholders.

Maybe you like controlled pricing by virtual monopolies, but I prefer a free market protected by laws like the Sherman Act.

originally posted by: tavi45
a reply to: Metallicus

I am in the same ballpark. The vast vast majority of CEOs did not build their company. They were given leadership of an already existing company. The Walton kids are not CEOs but the 2nd largest company in the world's founder is dead.

Except I was speaking ONLY of a CEO that did build his company so what is your point again?

Seriously, read what I said then post. Thanks.

What's up with the focus on corporate pay? Where's the outrage of athletes getting paid millions? At least corporations produce something to make life better for everyone one way or another.

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti
At least corporations produce something to make life better for everyone one way or another.

Do they?
Listening to the news recently while driving to work, they announced that Facebook is now listed as a $200Billion corporation. WTF?

What, of any tangible use to mankind does FB produce? Simple answer is "nothing at all". What it does provide though is another over-hyped vehicle for trading on in the big casino that is the stock market.
There are many similar cases though as well as FB, with share prices set and propped up simply for the purpose of making the right people rich(er), but offering nothing of any real value to the ordinary person.

originally posted by: Britguy

originally posted by: LogicalGraphitti
At least corporations produce something to make life better for everyone one way or another.

Do they?
Listening to the news recently while driving to work, they announced that Facebook is now listed as a $200Billion corporation. WTF?

What, of any tangible use to mankind does FB produce? Simple answer is "nothing at all". What it does provide though is another over-hyped vehicle for trading on in the big casino that is the stock market.
There are many similar cases though as well as FB, with share prices set and propped up simply for the purpose of making the right people rich(er), but offering nothing of any real value to the ordinary person.

Glad you brought up Facebook. Here is an example of a business that came out of nowhere. It had nothing to do with the rich and powerful. It was about some kid in college who had a passion for writing code on a computer. I doubt he was part of some conspiracy to suck money away from the poor.

The success of Facebook is exactly what the American dream is all about and what I was taught growing up. If you have the ambition, you can do something with your life and get as rich as you want to be. Now it seems that people think that all you have to do is be born and be entitled to whatever someone else has earned.