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When we read that the Seattle Times had a large feature on the top paid CEOs in the Pacific Northwest, we wondered what the point was. Everyone knows Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and Jeff Bezos—all local CEOs—are richer than God. And it turns out everyone, this Seattlest included, is wrong. According to the Times piece, the best paid local CEO in 2007 was James Voelker, who runs Bellevue's InfoSpace—a company we've never heard of. Despite its public anonymity (outside of technology circles) Voelker was handsomely paid (okay, obscenely paid) for his work. In 2007, he raked in $38,143,383...a salary we would be pleased to have 1/64th of on our greediest days.
And it's not just Voekler who's doing a happy dance all the way to the bank while most of us are worrying about the bills. Earl Lewis the 20th best paid local CEO may have made $33 million less than the top earning CEO, but hey—he still had a nearly $5 million pay check. Other people making millions upon millions more than you and all of Seattlest combined? The CEOs of Clearwire, Expedia, WAMU, Getty Images, Starbucks, and Eddie Bauer. Surprisingly the names Gates, Allen, and Bezos were nowhere to be found.
Pay Me! courtesy of Seattlest Flickr contributor Ryan Holloway
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Abbey,
You're confusing salary and compensation with net worth. Guys like Allen, Gates, and Bezos are rich because the companies they started (and own/owned large chunks of) are worth billions, not because they ever got paid a large salary.
I mean, think about it, $33m is a drop in the bucket for these billionaire types. You don't get rich by working, you get rich by creating (or owning) something lucrative.
Gates isn't a CEO, he handed that title over to Balmer a few years ago.
Frank,
I knew that those guys wealth laid in ownership, but I guess I'm still surprised a hefty salary doesn't go along with that. But it turns out Bezos hasn't had a salary increase since the 90's, saying he doesn't need any other incentive to work hard for the company.
Thanks for clarifying it for me.
That Killinger accepted any compensation is embarassing. The man ran WaMu in to the ground by putting his head in the sand with all the sub-prime nonsense.