What If We Took The CEO's Money
the media is always trying to find or stir up drama. why? because we the american people crave drama. the price of oil has increased dramatically over the last year and the american people are getting angry, and so we look for a place to point our fingers. the media has given us something even better to point our fingers at. they have given us someone. the former CEO of exxon-mobil. now i do think he makes a ridiculous amount of money. more money than he and his family will need for 50 years, but this my friends is not why the price of oil is so high. let's look at it realistically. if we were to take his retirement check of $98.5 million and his previous years salary of $48.5 million and put it towards lowering the price of gas i'm not sure we would notice the difference.
according to the bureau of transportation statistics (BTS), at the end of 1999, there were 132.4 million passenger cars, 75.4 million light trucks (minivans, suvs, pick-up trucks, etc.) for a total of 207.8 million vehicles. lets assume that 75% of these are in operation. that gives us 156 million vehicles. now lets assume that on average each vehicle uses 200 gallons of gas per year. i know this is really low, but i'm trying to prove a point. that's 3.1 trillion gallons of gas used per year. now divide that by $147 million and you get back $0.000047 per gallon in return. to top that off i didn't even include the fuel consumption of airlines, trains, production plants, ect. i don't in anyway agree that someone should be paid $48.5 million per year and then some. i'm just saying that the former ceo's salary is not our problem.
posted by j-lay @ 11:08 AM
2 Comments:
it's not that his ridiculous salary would directly decrease gas prices by any significant amount.
it's that he is (was) in charge of a company in an industry that is increasing prices to the consumer that makes it hard for Joe Average to put gas in his car to get to work everyday. so while i'm standing at the pump watching it cost more to put gas in it (i didn't fill up today because i'm just not in the mood for another kick in the pants today), i know that i just helped this guy become 98.5 million richer.
at a time when the general American public could use a little comfort while we struggle to afford daily life at the direct cause of oil companies increasing prices, this guy adds 98.5 MILLION to an already ridiculous salary of 48.5 MILLION, which translates to Joe Average as a kick in the ass when we are already down.
we can't afford to drive around town. why does this guy need another 98.5 million?
bad PR on the part of exxon, and it does not communicate to the public that oil companies are doing anything to help Joe Average while they put millions more in their own pockets.
take that 98.5 million and buy everyone in America a tank of gas. a show of good sportsmanship. that might ease tensions, even though we know that's not going to affect prices at the pump.
I agree with the cynical tyrant. I think you misunderstood why people are upset at his retirement package.
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