Gilded CEOs

The wish to acquire more is admittedly a very natural and common thing; and when men succeed in this they are always praised rather than condemned. But when they lack the ability to do so and yet want to acquire more at all costs, they deserve condemnation for their mistakes.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527), political philosopher

In just twenty-five years we have gone from the American century to the American crisis.” Felix Rohatyn, the financier and social critic, tells David Halberstam. “That is an astonishing turnaround – perhaps the shortest parabola in history,” so reads the dust jacket to the book "The Reckoning" by Halberstam from 1986.

The Reckoning is the account of Detroit automakers’ arrogance toward the Japanese automakers and the predicted oil crisis. Surprisingly, this country continues to do little. The not so big three manufacturers continue to produce oversized cars and trucks, layoff thousands of employees, lose billions of dollars. Still, they do little.

Most brazenly, Ford paid its new president and CEO Alan Mulally $39.1 million for four months on the job last year. Five million dollars of the compensation was his signing bonus. Last year, the company lost $12.7 billion in 2006, the largest loss in its 103-year history. I suppose Mulally could see his bonus increase if Ford loses even more next year.

In today’s Los Angeles Times, it reports that Occidental’s CEO received $460 million in compensation. This is outrageous! We have heard ever excuse from the oil companies about high prices ranging from mice, hurricanes, to refinery capacity. If companies and their board of directors put some of this excess money back into the business it would help them, employees and the country stay competitive. Greed is not good.