Musk Effect Drives Spread of Supersize CEO Pay Packages

[dalton99a]

https://www.wsj.com/business/ceo-pay-packages-charts-3e7b1624

Musk Effect Drives Spread of Supersize CEO Pay Packages
More executives make $50 million and up — with potential for growth over time
By Theo Francis
May 20, 2024 5:30 am ET

Elon Musk didn’t just upend the global auto business and space missions. The billionaire is also reshaping the landscape of executive pay.

Musk’s multibillion-dollar pay package from 2018 has set the tone for other high-end pay deals, despite being thrown out by a Delaware court earlier this year. More executives have gotten outsize pay packages, and those packages have been bigger, in the years since Musk’s came to light.

They also have the potential to keep growing for years — generating value for CEOs along the way.

“We’ve called them moonshot awards — awards with huge potential values that executives can earn if they meet their targets,” said Brian Bueno, a practice leader with pay consultancy Farient Advisors in New York.

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[ThoughtCriminal]

1. We need to dispense with the idea that CEOs are geniuses because they are rich

Many are just beneficiaries of inheritance and old-boy networks rather than a product of smart management and innovation.

SpaceX, Starlink, and Tesla would be doing much better if Musk was not the CEO of those companies.

[jimfields33]

2. I'm not so sure having a different CEO would be a good idea.

Many have tried including red lobster to horrific results.