Paywalled but overall I’ve come to the conclusion that executive pay isn’t as insane as it seems. Like yeah okay there are outliers that are insane, but it’s actually a super difficult role to hire for, and certainly not a role AI can replace soon. It involves:
high levels of creativity
good taste and sound judgement
a ton of politics and emotional intelligence
mental stability and reliability
a lot of intangible skills that are hard to survey
connections & networking
often unique and original views of the world
organizational skills and high level problem solving
These aren’t skills to be taken lightly and they take years to develop, to be a good manager & bear responsibility for the lives of many employees. If AI made proposals, someone still has to actually judge which ideas to pursue, so you can’t really get rid of the job. Maybe you could reduce the amount of executives. But when a company has leadership that’s actually coherent and works, employees like them, it’s a goldmine that needs to be protected by the owners
CEOs used to make as much as 20-30 times the average worker in the 60s-70s to now 280-290 times the average worker. Do you think that CEOs have gotten 10 times more valuable that the average worker despite the average worker’s productivity increasing 74% over that same period? Have CEOs become 740% more productive in that time?
Adjusted for inflation, from 1972 to 2022, average worker salary increased only 12 cents. They’ve been stagnant for 50 years. Only in 2023 was there any significant gains for the average worker (4%) but CEO pay continues to increase multiplicatively, not fractionally. CEO pay is just another bubble, an empty arms race. They’re not worth nearly what they’re paid.
Yeah like I said, there are insane outliers. But you gotta give it to him, he did crazy and creative things nobody else did successfully, over and over, and there is a clear intentionality to his conduct. He does indeed network very efficiently. I can’t imagine him being easily replaced either
Hard to say. I mean, the easy answer is only 10x a soldier in America. But they also get free housing, food, varied benefits & bonuses – and retired generals often make millions via their influence and power. But yeah they have salary caps and somehow the whole system still works pretty well
Paywalled but overall I’ve come to the conclusion that executive pay isn’t as insane as it seems. Like yeah okay there are outliers that are insane, but it’s actually a super difficult role to hire for, and certainly not a role AI can replace soon. It involves:
These aren’t skills to be taken lightly and they take years to develop, to be a good manager & bear responsibility for the lives of many employees. If AI made proposals, someone still has to actually judge which ideas to pursue, so you can’t really get rid of the job. Maybe you could reduce the amount of executives. But when a company has leadership that’s actually coherent and works, employees like them, it’s a goldmine that needs to be protected by the owners
CEOs used to make as much as 20-30 times the average worker in the 60s-70s to now 280-290 times the average worker. Do you think that CEOs have gotten 10 times more valuable that the average worker despite the average worker’s productivity increasing 74% over that same period? Have CEOs become 740% more productive in that time?
Adjusted for inflation, from 1972 to 2022, average worker salary increased only 12 cents. They’ve been stagnant for 50 years. Only in 2023 was there any significant gains for the average worker (4%) but CEO pay continues to increase multiplicatively, not fractionally. CEO pay is just another bubble, an empty arms race. They’re not worth nearly what they’re paid.
Of the things you listed, this must be the only thing every CEO has in common. Items 1, 2, 3 and 4 are sorely lacking.
I am currently reading your list and imagining world’s richest man and none of those fit. He’s the dumbest fuck I know
Yeah like I said, there are insane outliers. But you gotta give it to him, he did crazy and creative things nobody else did successfully, over and over, and there is a clear intentionality to his conduct. He does indeed network very efficiently. I can’t imagine him being easily replaced either
He just paid for those things
This is the only thing a CEO brings in. All the other are people hired for that.
Soo…like a general. How much does a general make?
Hard to say. I mean, the easy answer is only 10x a soldier in America. But they also get free housing, food, varied benefits & bonuses – and retired generals often make millions via their influence and power. But yeah they have salary caps and somehow the whole system still works pretty well
Wow, 10x employee salary seems to work well. I wonder why we need the 300-300,000x we’re seeing these days.
So good of you to acknowledge that your whole argument is undone by a simple question.
I wouldn’t go that far
Most of us would. Employees on food stamps? CEO a billionaire? Yup.