CEO pay vs average worker pay

I'm curious as to what argument could possibly justify this.



This is just one example of the vast gulf between CEO pay and average worker pay. Here's another graphic that illustrates this




What is the justification for this kind of disparity?

 

Consider the hourly wage for someone like A-Rod or Kobe Bryant or [fill in the blank for a sports superstar here] and compare it to the hourly wage for someone in the PR department for the team that employs the superstar.

Is that justifiable?

If it is, then this disparity is justifiable with similar reasoning. If not...

 

CEOs make a lot of money, but they spend a lot of money.

 

Why does it need to be justified?

 

Apples and oranges.

Anyone with a certain baseline intelligence can, through hard work and study, acquire the knowledge and skills to become a CEO.

But no matter how much work and practice one puts in, he or she cannot rise to the top of a sport without winning the genetic lottery.

 

Just once I'd like to see a shareholders board tell a CEO to pound sand if he or she has a bad year. Just once I'd like to see a suit fucked over by Right to Work.

 

c.f. J.C. Penney.

 

Dream about threesomes with SEC cheerleaders instead. More pleasing thoughts and a better chance of happening.

 

The average Wal-Mart worker is responsible for four aisles in health and beauty. The CEO is responsible for 2 million jobs and thousands of stores.

It's not like Wal-Mart's pay structure is a secret. And yet workers continue to work there, and there's a steady line of applicants.

 

If the average worker doesn't show up to work for two weeks, those aisles fall behind in terms of merchandise and service. A CEO doesn't show up to work, the company continues to exist.

I should know. I worked for a company whose CEO took over 3 months off for his bad back. The company didn't fall apart without him.

 

Piss on all of you peons and pass the grey poupon!

Oh and most top management can be missed for days if not weeks and business continues.

 

It's just bad business repeated over and over again in many companies. They overpay for the CEO. They just do. Far too often, the CEO is just a "confidence face" for a stock price. You can recruit those for far cheaper than what those folks are paid.