Median CEO pay crosses $10 million in 2013

[n2doc]

NEW YORK (AP) — They're the $10 million men and women.

Propelled by a soaring stock market, the median pay package for a CEO rose above eight figures for the first time last year. The head of a typical large public company earned a record $10.5 million, an increase of 8.8 percent from $9.6 million in 2012, according to an Associated Press/Equilar pay study.

Last year was the fourth straight that CEO compensation rose following a decline during the Great Recession. The median CEO pay package climbed more than 50 percent over that stretch. A chief executive now makes about 257 times the average worker's salary, up sharply from 181 times in 2009.

The best paid CEO last year led an oilfield-services company. The highest paid female CEO was Carol Meyrowitz of discount retail giant TJX, owner of TJ Maxx and Marshall's. And the head of Monster Beverage got a monster of a raise.

Over the last several years, companies' boards of directors have tweaked executive compensation to answer critics' calls for CEO pay to be more attuned to performance. They've cut back on stock options and cash bonuses, which were criticized for rewarding executives even when a company did poorly. Boards of directors have placed more emphasis on paying CEOs in stock instead of cash and stock options.

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http://bigstory.ap.org/article/median-ceo-pay-crosses-10-million-2013

[yallerdawg]

1. Worker wages rose 1.3%

Shareholders are quick to acknowledge and even approve CEO pay packages if their shares rise.

Workers are just a controllable expense item, mean no more to CEOs and shareholders than cost of goods or tax items. The lower the wage, "the more money in our pockets."

Of course, many workers have some shares, too. So, after 401K fees over time, many workers will have $100s, even $1,000 of more dollars for retirement.

They won't run out of money until they are almost 70 years old, if lucky in investment.

Well. that CEO didn't get a pension either, so its all even -- except the CEO pays in a lot less as a percentage of income towards payroll taxes, so the CEO is living large in retirement off the money he didn't pay the worker, who would have contributed to retirement safety net!.

[Initech]

2. Yup they got it all, we fight for what's left of the scraps.

Our economic system is seriously broken.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. Not to mention the money they'll make writing books about how burdened they feel being rich.

Or, at least, the ghostwriters they hire will tell us such.

The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks. Lord Acton

[HughBeaumont]

4. Wow, and here I thought 9.6 million would satisfy them . . .