"Skyrocketing
CEO pay packages represent a misallocation of assets that is
detrimental to investors, and a driver of wider social inequality," said
Rosanna Landis Weaver, report author and Program Manager of As You Sow's Executive Compensation initiative.
"This is an issue that effects everyone – the pay packages analyzed in
this report are from companies that the majority of retirement funds are
invested in. If someone has a 401(k) through their employer, it's
likely they are invested in a company with an overpaid CEO."
The report found widespread consensus on the worst actors. Nabors Industries, Oracle, Freeport McMoran, and CBS emerged as some of the worst offenders, showing a large gulf between CEO pay and shareholder returns.
The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs: Executive Compensation at S&P 500 Companies
also examines the voting records of mutual funds, identifying those
that are uncritically rubber-stamping the recommendations of the
compensation committees. Members of the committees that recommend these
excessive pay packages are highlighted, focusing on those that serve on
multiple committees of companies on the 100 most overpaid list.
"Excessive
CEO pay packages don't just take money from shareholders and pose a
risk for the destruction of shareholder value, they also prevent
corporations from paying decent wages to their employees," said investor
Steve Silberstein.
"Now that we've identified the most overpaid, institutional investors
and compensation committee directors should be re-examining their
assumptions and advocating for more reasonable CEO pay."
"We
cannot look to the government to solve this problem. And we cannot
expect members of the board, selected, informed, and paid by insiders,
to solve it," said Nell Minow, journalist and noted corporate governance
expert. "Shareholders are in the best position to put pressure on
directors – and replace them, if necessary – to make sure that CEO pay
promotes sustainable, long-term growth of share value, instead of
unsustainable, long-term growth of CEO net worth."
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