executive compensation

Nearly 40% of the Top Paid CEOs Bombed at Their Jobs

The Institute for Policy Studies has released a no holds barred report on CEO pay, culture.  Even the study title screams outrage, Executive Excess 2013: Bailed Out, Booted, and Busted.  Every year there is a list of the top 25 highest paid CEOs and over the past 20 years this list has included 500 executives.  Of those 500 who made the Wall Street Journal's top 25 highest paid Chief Executive Officer list, a whopping 38% were utter failures at their jobs.

CEO Pay is a Tax on You

corppolitcs A most interesting study came out of the left leaning Institute for Policy Studies. They found 26 corporations paid more to their CEO than they actually paid in taxes. IPS compared executive compensation to how much tax write offs that pay package gives and conclude excessive compensation is a tax on you. Corporations are raking it in and not paying much to Uncle Sam. CEOs aren't being rewarded for actual performance, the excessive pay is more reflective on our loophole ridden corporate tax code. IPS estimates CEO pay at 26 firms is equivalent to a $46 dollar tax on every person in America, or $14.4 billion per year.

  • Of last year’s 100 highest-paid U.S. corporate chief executives, 26 took home more in CEO pay than their companies paid in federal income taxes, up from the 25 we noted in last year’s analysis. Seven firms made the list in both 2011 and 2010.
  • Once again, low corporate tax bills, or large refunds, cannot be explained by low profits. On average, the 26 firms had more than $1 billion in U.S. pre-tax income but still received net tax benefits that averaged $163 million.
  • The CEOs of these 26 firms received $20.4 million in average total compensation last year. That's a 23 percent increase over the average for last year’s list of 2010's tax dodging executives.
  • Two of the firms that paid their CEOs more than Uncle Sam, Citigroup and AIG, owe their very continued existence to taxpayer bailouts.
  • Combined, the 26 firms have 537 subsidiaries in tax-haven countries such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and Gibraltar.

Saturday Reads Around The Internets for January 29, 2011

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Welcome to the weekly roundup of great articles, facts and figures. These are the weekly finds that made our eyes pop.

FCIC Report Is Lacking

New York Times financial writer Joe Nocera incorrectly compares the financial crisis to the 1700's Dutch Tulip Bulb Bubble. Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism shows Nocera is subtly blaming the victims for the financial crisis. Smith, cuts to the chase on the real FCIC report shortcoming:

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