Pity Mark Zuckerberg. He tries so hard to be a good guy, to show that capitalism works. But then there is Vladimir Putin!
We do not know what Vladimir earns but he sure doesn’t worry about being seen as a good guy. Meanwhile, poor Mark only received $22.6 million in total pay and most of that went for personal security and his private aircraft .. stuff Val gets for free! Mark has other expenses, he spent US$59 million on two next-door waterfront homes in Lake Tahoe, in Sierra Nevada.
Mark is not the only example of the struggle of being a wealthy tech guy in the US. Last year, Elon Musk of Tesla had to fight with the Security and Exchanges Commission. Meanwhile, Elon earned $2.28 billion, all but $56,000 in stock options. He does not need a company jet because Elon logged 150,000 miles aboard his own US$70 million Gulfstream G650ER.
Tesla paid US$700,000 to cover Musk’s extensive air travel.
Palo Alto Networks Chief Executive Officer Nikesh Arora, Oracle executives Lawrence Ellison, Safra Catz, and Mark Hurd, had their own problems. The CEO Palo Alto Networks, Nikesh Arora, took in $125.1 million in total direct compensation. Larry Ellison of Oracle and the America’s Cup, earned $108.9 million in total direct compensation, all but a meagre 5 million n million in stock options. Also at Oracle the company’s two co-executives, were paid slightly less, at $108.3 million in total pay. But, poor Mr. Ellison, the United States government has reportedly kept Ellison from flying the MiG-29 in America, because it’s “considered a firearm”.
However, it is still true that inheritance matters. A new study may surprise some but the study shows that its better to have rich parents than be smart. That is almost certainly true in Putin’s Russia. The uS. however and brag about success od teh up and comers … especially in tech!
Some more of Merica’s suffering ………………..
- Joseph Hogan, chief executive officer of San Jose-based Align Technology, with a total pay package of $41.8 million, including $36.8 million in stock awards;
- PayPal chief Daniel Schulman, with $37.8 million in total pay, including $35.3 million in stock.
- CEO Reed Hastings, who earned $36.1 million in total direct compensation, with a stock option package valued at $35.4 million; and
- San Jose-based Adobe granted Shantanu Narayen, the chief executive officer, $28.4 million in total pay, including $25.5 million in awards of stock.
- Salesforce’s Marc Benioff was given a total pay package of $28.4 million, including $13.5 million in awards of stock and $9 million in stock options.
And then there is the widow of Steve Jobs, the wife of Bill Gates, and divorced wife of Jeff Bezos. Maybe the rules are different for women?