Roger Goodell = $44.2 million

[Coleman]

LOL. Those poor rich people are being persecuted again

http://business.time.com/2014/02/14/tom-perkins-taxes/

[Pakuni]

Hire the right CEO, the value of the company goes up considerably. Its really that simple.  My current CEO came in when we were trading at about $29 if I recall.  Today we are at $72.  That is worth BILLIONS. 

Hire the wrong CEO, the value of the company tanks. Board of directors fires him. He walks away with 8-figure severance.
This is costing shareholders BILLIONS and tens of thousands of people their jobs.

This is what infuriates people. Most people don't begrudge the super successful CEO who earns millions of dollars. They do begrudge the utter lack of accountability, and a rigged system in which boards of directors consisting of other CEOs propagate a scheme by which they're all guaranteed to walk away rich regardless of whether or not they succeed.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Hire the wrong CEO, the value of the company tanks. Board of directors fires him. He walks away with 8-figure severance.
This is costing shareholders BILLIONS and tens of thousands of people their jobs.

This is what infuriates people. Most people don't begrudge the super successful CEO who earns millions of dollars. They do begrudge the utter lack of accountability, and a rigged system in which boards of directors consisting of other CEOs propagate a scheme by which they're all guaranteed to walk away rich regardless of whether or not they succeed.

I don't disagree with you.  Though you make it sound like in the process of "tanking" that this is all they did...tank it.  Hardly the case.  The CEO is still working his\her balls off, but it doesn't always work.  By taking the gig, they are going to get the $$$ regardless, but they will get MORE if they do well.  It's a tough job, more difficult than the "infuriated ones" give credit for.  And yes, they are guaranteed to walk away rich.  Name me a pro football player drafted in the first 2 rounds, whether he is a total bust or not, that doesn't walk away with a lot of money?  A NBA coach, a college coach at a major high level program.  That's the deal, like it or not, that's the deal.  You get paid for the hell storm you walk into and the job you have to do.  If you fail, you get paid....because of that hell storm.  If you succeed, you get paid a lot more.

People can get infuriated over many things....paying for people not to work who purposely give up on work to suckle on the teat infuriates people, too, especially those having to pay for suckling. 

[jesmu84]

I don't disagree with you.  Though you make it sound like in the process of "tanking" that this is all they did...tank it.  Hardly the case.  The CEO is still working his\her balls off, but it doesn't always work.  By taking the gig, they are going to get the $$$ regardless, but they will get MORE if they do well.  It's a tough job, more difficult than the "infuriated ones" give credit for.  And yes, they are guaranteed to walk away rich.  Name me a pro football player drafted in the first 2 rounds, whether he is a total bust or not, that doesn't walk away with a lot of money?  A NBA coach, a college coach at a major high level program.  That's the deal, like it or not, that's the deal.  You get paid for the hell storm you walk into and the job you have to do.  If you fail, you get paid....because of that hell storm.  If you succeed, you get paid a lot more.

People can get infuriated over many things....paying for people not to work who purposely give up on work to suckle on the teat infuriates people, too, especially those having to pay for suckling. 

My annoyance comes with the situation that these CEOs have had their pay significantly increased in the past 20-30 years compared to the average employee working for them. The gap keeps widening. Are CEOs now working harder than they were 20 years ago? Are they working harder compared to their employees now or 20 years ago? Why is one situation increasingly exponentially compared to the other? There always seems to be a reason or excuse for why employee pay stagnates vs executives.