The obvious answer to me would seem to be "no", but so many CEO's are granted this privilege that there must be people out there who agree with the practice.

Those idiots. The freakin' CEOs get big juicy severances when the company goes bankrupt!

It's amazing how little ethics there are out there in the corporate world. Sometimes I justify criminals by using "they had underpriveledged childhoods" arguement. But these CEOs have everything, millions in the bank, and they're still crooks!

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/n...o182929801sep18(0,7619540).story?coll=ny-nynews-headlines


I think a big part of CEOs' salaries should be performance-based bonuses. If the company loses money, they get nothing. If it makes over X amount they get Y bonus. If it makes 2X, they get 2Y bonus, etc, etc.

(and the same should go for hockey players! Points = reasonable salary + bonus, injury for the whole season = reasonable salary only)

How about that Tyco CEO who loaned millions of the company's money to him for personal use and then had the company "forgive" the loan? There are enough of these types of stories getting out to assume that it must be a lot more common than just these one or two.

A few examples of the Tyco CEO's behaviour:

Embattled ex-CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski improperly used Tyco International Ltd. funds to pay for luxuries ranging from a $15,000 umbrella stand to a $2,200 trash basket, the company reported in a regulatory filing yesterday.

On Kozlowski's shopping list, Tyco told the Securities and Exchange Commission, were $2,900 worth of coat hangers, a $6,300 sewing basket and a $17,100 ``traveling toilette box.'' Tyco did not further detail those items.

In its SEC filing, Tyco claims Kozlowski spent at least $1 million in company money to throw a lavish birthday party for his wife on the Italian island of Sardinia last year.

Kozlowski also allegedly used $11 million in Tyco money to furnish a Fifth Avenue apartment in Manhattan, the company reported. Among the allegedly unauthorized purchases were: a $6,000 shower curtain, a $15,000 ``dog umbrella stand'' and a $445 pincushion.

Kozlowski took nearly $62 million in unauthorized no-interest relocation loans and only repaid $21.7 million, the company said.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau charged Swartz and Kozlowski with stealing more than $174 million from Tyco and fleecing investors of another $430 million, while filing lesser charges against Belnick. All three also face SEC fraud charges.

Yep, that mangled link I posted (you have to cut and paste) leads to a story on that idiot.

Originally posted by GoldfishLegs Yep, that mangled link I posted (you have to cut and paste) leads to a story on that idiot.

Do you mean this one?

I think they get way too much.

If you read the company prospectus, in the fine print, it will usually say something along the lines that if the CEO/president (whoever) leaves, he/she gets $XXX in severance even if they leave at their own will, or they get fired, or dishonest, etc, etc... So basically, they get it no matter what. They can't lose! And once your a CEO, it's easy to move on to other companies as a CEO unless you totally mess up.

Another thing that bothers me is bonuses. The company does okay (and sometimes even really bad), and they still get a bonus equivalent to 1000% their salaries, while us little peons get 4%. Do they not realize the benefits of cutting their bonus by even 10% so that everyone else in the company gets 5% more? That would keep your peons happy and working hard and to the CEO, it's just a drop in the bucket.

Isn't CAPITALISM wonderful!!! The need for greed. I do not understand the logic of dying with millions or billions of dollars while so many go hungry.
I wonder what some people think about when they eat at their fine dining resturants while others eat at the dumpsters. Do they think about it?
When I read about the CEO who paid 6000.00 for a shower curtain. That is half or one third of a persons yearly income.

Originally posted by maleman74 When I read about the CEO who paid 6000.00 for a shower curtain. That is half or one third of a persons yearly income.

Yes, some people are only one dog coat stand away from having relatively luxurious living conditions for a year.