Paychecks for top American executives are growing again

[OhioChick]

10 Apr, 2011, 05.26PM IST,New York Times

Rarely has the view from the corner office seemed so at odds with the view from the street corner. At a time when millions of Americans are trying to hang on to homes and millions more are trying to hang on to jobs, the chief executives of major corporations like 3M, General Electric and Cisco Systems are making as much today as they were before the recession hit. Indeed, some are making even more.

The disparity is especially stark as companies are swimming in cash. In the fourth quarter, profits at American businesses were up an astounding 29.2 per cent, the fastest growth in more than 60 years. Collectively, American corporations logged profits at an annual rate of $1.678 trillion.

So far, this recovery has not trickled down. After two relatively lean years, CEOs in finance, technology, energy and beyond are pulling down multimillion-dollar paychecks . What many of these executives aren't doing, however, is hiring. Unemployment, although down from its peak, stood at 8.8 per cent in March. And few economists predict the jobless rate will drop substantially anytime soon.

For the average CEO, however, the good times have returned. The median pay for top executives at 200 major companies was $9.6 million last year. That was a 12 per cent increase over 2009, according to a study conducted for The New York Times by Equilar, a compensation consulting firm based in Redwood City, Calif.

More: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/paychecks-for-top-american-executives-are-growing-again/articleshow/7933881.cms

[roguevalley]

1. I am going to buy knitting needles. this cannot hold.