Posted by
Mark S. Rader on Friday, November 13, 2009 9:00:00 AM
With the fervor over Health-care reform and so many justifying the government take-over by pointing to the need to control executive salaries I thought I would take a look at capitalism and compare a few salaries of the highest paid people period in the US in 2008. Look at these comparisons:
Aubrey K. McClendon of Chesapeake Energy Corporation was paid $112,000,000, while Tiger Woods of aaaa Tiger Woods INC. earned $110,000,000.
Lawrence J. Ellison of Oracle Corporation was paid $ 84,000,000, while Will Smith of well... Will Smith earned $ 80,000,000.
Richard C. Adkerson of Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. was paid $77,000,000, while Johnny Depp made just under that with $72,000,000.
In fact if professional athletes and Hollywood stars were listed with corporate executives in 2008 people like Simon Cowell $75,000,000, Eddie Murphy $55,000,000, Mike Myers, $55,000,000, Ryan Seacrest $49,000,000, Kobe Bryant $45,000,000, Michael Jordan $45,000,000, and David Beckham $42,000,000, would all be listed in the top 15 wage earners. Will Smith would be #5 and Johnny Depp would be #7.
So the argument goes, executives are taking money from the workers by taking such exorbitant salaries. What about these stars? Will Smith' s $80,000,000 is only $20,000,000 less than his last movie earned total. How do you think that impacted the people who work behind the camera or those who invested in the movie? What about Tiger Woods... how many people work for him? In contrast Chesapeake Energy employed thousands of people and had net revenues of almost $12 Billion.
As for Health-care... the first health-care provider on the list is 48th and the CEO makes just over $20,000,000 a year... right up there with Charlie Sheen who made $21,000,000. in 2008. Also the first Health Insurer on the list is ranked 53rd and their CEO makes less than 20 of the top paid athletes including two boxers, three golfers, five race-car drivers, five basketball players, a tennis player and one soccer player.
So let me get this straight... do those who hate capitalism really believe that there should be a law making it illegal for Oscar De La Hoya and Tiger Woods to make this kind of money? I had someone say that to me just this last weekend. Can you imagine the impact on tax revenue alone when these top wage earners on Wall Street and Main Street fall to a lower tax bracket?
Honestly, the ability for an ordinary person to do extraordinary things in their lives is what has made us the most prosperous nation on earth. It has enabled the prosperity of other nations and made the general welfare of the world better. The reality is that the world's poorest would gladly change places with the poorest people in the US. As for how generous these top paid capitalist are, well ultimately that is between them and God... but I think anti-capitalists might be very surprised about where that money goes and how many people it affects. It should also be said that many CEO salaries are dominated by stock options. That is they are given the "option" to purchase future shares of stock at 2008 prices. This means on day 1 these options are worth nothing. They can then, on some future date, buy and sell those stocks for the residual. If the stock goes down they will likely never exercise those options. On the other hand, Hollywood stars and star athletes they get paid in cold-hard-cash and will likely make more than anyone in the end.
The way I see it, if you "limit" what a man can make you destroy his ability to dream, you remove his incentive to achieve.