CEO pay in US continues its relentless climb in 2005

A glimpse of this state of affairs can be found in several recent surveys of compensation for chief executive officers at major US corporations. These CEOs are a subset of the wealthiest layer of the American population, and they perform a critical function—they ensure that the corporations they manage are operated in the interests of the major investors that compose the American ruling elite. For this service they are handsomely rewarded.

The reports only measure CEO compensation, neglecting other sources of wealth accumulation such as individual investment portfolios. Nevertheless, the figures reveal that a truly staggering level of social resources is being channeled into the pockets of these individuals.

USA Today published its annual report on CEO pay April 10, based on data collected by eComp Data Services. The analysis included a chart of the compensation doled out to chief executives at 240 of the country’s largest companies, where total compensation included direct salary, bonuses, incentives, gains from exercised stock options, and the value of newly issued stock options. Not all top companies are included in the survey. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times published separate analyses of the figures.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2006/apr2006/ceos-a12.shtml