CEO Entitlement: Executives at the Trough

Executive pay has become a big deal

The Ugly: What's the big deal? Chief executives 40 or 50 years ago made about 40 times the lowest salary. Well, now the number is around 400 to 500 or more times the lowest salary.

The Bad: Chief executives and other senior executives think they are entrepreneurs or rock stars. They think they made the company.

The Good: The Dems are in a populist bent to curb it. Executives are worried they will have to reveal more - as if transparency is an evil. Worker - folks feel it is time for some comeuppance.

So, what's the solution. Pay for performance. If executives did something special to enhance market cap or something similar. Great. They are worth the additional compensation.

But basically, we've taken a wrong turn. A lot of senior executives may a lot of money based not on adding value through product development, enhanced market value, or developing new markets.

Basically, a lot of CEO's are home steaders, who survived the bureaucratic wars. They fought harder and smarter. But, did they add value? That's the key question.

The problem is that CEO have a sense of entitlement. The company owes me. Well, things may be changing.