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Would It Be Possible To Have A Nuanced Discussion About CEO Pay?
Insofar as almost everything is currently rooted in some form of ideology or belief structure, so too goes CEO pay. I think most people by now realize that the ratio has gotten absurd, i.e. why is a CEO earning $1,189 for every $1 that the janitor makes? It’s a little bit out of whack. But — and this is an important but — if you are a person for whom money is very tied to notions of success, or a person who deeply believes in the free market, or a person who someday would like to have that $1189-$1 ratio (or more) yourself, you will defend CEO pay to the death. It’s true that CEO pay apologists tend to be right-leaning, and they get up in arms when ESG performance is thought to be considered part of a CEO performance evaluation, but honestly, I know some left-leaning dudes who defend CEO and free market stuff to the death too.
So, can we have a nuanced discussion about it? Probably not.
The Securities and Exchange Commission seems broadly toothless minus a few headline-grabbing fines, but here’s a new article and podcast from Wharton about some of their CEO pay disclosure rules:
