A Bright Spot in CEO Pay Reaching into the Stratosphere
February 14, 2007 – 12:10 amWith all of the controversy around CEO compensation (the average CEO received 431 times as much as their average employee received in 2004), I thought I would point out a bright spot: Whole Foods CEO John Mackey.
Bob Nardelli, the former CEO of Home Depot, walked away with $210 million when he left. Not bad for 6 years. The $7 million annual salary, when put in perspective of what professional athletes and celebrities earn, doesn’t seem far out of whack. At the time, Nadelli was one of the top 3 CEO prospects in the market. [via MSNBC]
Tiger Woods racked up $90 million in earnings for 2006. Oprah? $225 million. Check out what other celebrities make, compliments of Forbes.
Someone else I appreciate? Warren Buffet, who, worth $44 billion, last year announced he would donate 85% of his net worth to five foundations. [via ABC News]
Check out the memo, posted on John Mackey’s blog on the Whole Foods site, including comments. Sure there were some people ticked about the stock tanking, and although I don’t personally own any Whole Foods stock, raising executive compensation in times that the stock is tanking is never taken lightly by stockholders.
None the less, it is good to remind ourselves that not everyone is out there trying to turn a buck for greed.
via bguides:
In a memo to employees dated November 2, 2006, Whole Foods CEO John Mackey announced that effective January 1, 2007, his salary would be reduced to $1, and that any future stock options he was eligible to receive would be donated to the company’s two foundations. He also announced that Whole Foods will contribute $100,000 annually to a Global Team Member Emergency Fund for distribution to team members based on need.
Mackey’s reason to forego any compensation (other than his annual $1) and continue working? His joy of the work and his desire to “better answer the call to service that I feel so clearly in my own heart.”
Technorati Tags: Whole Foods, John Mackey, compensation, CEO, executive pay, Home Depot
One Response to “A Bright Spot in CEO Pay Reaching into the Stratosphere”
Thanks for pointing out the good side, too. IMO, there are probably many more of these stories waiting to be told but the people that do this sort of thing are seldom big self-promoters.
Nice blog, Dustin.
By Chris Lengquist on Feb 17, 2007