Though The New York Times published a long winded article about the increase in how much CEOs made last year in both salary and perks, two particular CEOs were mentioned for other reasons.
JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson worked for only two months in 2011, and made $53.3 million in stock and cash. In 2012, that number was cut by 96 percent to land Johnson at $1.9 million in pay and perks. That boiled down to a $1.5 million salary with the rest representing transportation and security costs. That's a huge drop in payment, obviously, but should we be surprised? JC Penney reported a $1 billion operating loss for the year, and a huge drop in stocks, which can be largely attributed to Johnson's failed attempt at changing the way JC Penney operated and advertised.
At Ford, where shares and earnings were down, Alan Mulally took a 28 percent pay cut.
Isn't that the way it is supposed to be? If profits go down and stocks go down, it seems only fitting that the highest paid executive's salary would also go down, both for financial reasons and to show solidarity with the company workers.
But instead, other than Johnson, Mulally, and a handful of others (think James Gorman and Morgan Stanley and Tim Cook at Apple), the NYT report shows that most high powered CEOs are earning more than ever in salary and perks, and have no problem discussing it.
Emily Mosh
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