List of PNW's Top Paid CEOs Full of Unfamiliar Names
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
