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Separate Realities: The Dream and the Iceberg - Scarecrow Press

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74 Chapter 2<br />

but <strong>the</strong> salary plus bonus incomes for <strong>the</strong> ten highest compensated CEOs in<br />

<strong>the</strong> survey averaged “only” $5.9 million. This was <strong>the</strong> case because in addition<br />

to <strong>the</strong>ir salary <strong>and</strong> bonus incomes, <strong>the</strong> top ten CEOs collectively received a total<br />

of $877.6 million in “option gains” income (an average of $87.8 million<br />

each). 157 <strong>The</strong>se figures illustrate that for <strong>the</strong> ten top-paid CEOs in <strong>the</strong> 2006<br />

USA Today survey, <strong>the</strong> average salary <strong>and</strong> bonus income for each CEO<br />

amounted to only about 7 percent of <strong>the</strong> average total compensation received<br />

by each member of this group.<br />

<strong>The</strong> incomes of credentialed-class managers <strong>and</strong> white-collar professionals<br />

who assist superclass elites in sustaining <strong>the</strong> corporate project are nowhere<br />

near those of superclass members, but <strong>the</strong>y are still substantial. In Washington,<br />

D.C., <strong>the</strong> salary received by members of Congress has often been viewed<br />

as <strong>the</strong> top of <strong>the</strong> middle class <strong>and</strong>, thus, as <strong>the</strong> floor of <strong>the</strong> upper middle<br />

class. 158 In 2007, that floor was $168,500. 159 This figure represents an approximate<br />

baseline minimum for privileged-class managers <strong>and</strong> professionals, especially<br />

in large private-sector firms. Senior corporate office holders, such as<br />

chief financial officers (CFOs), in midsized firms illustrate salary “upgrades”<br />

(above congressional salaries) routinely paid to privileged-class members. In<br />

<strong>the</strong> mid-2000s, <strong>the</strong> annual median income for CFOs in firms with sales between<br />

$100 <strong>and</strong> $500 million was $198,855. Income levels of CFOs in larger<br />

firms are much higher (typically seven figures) than for CFOs in midsized<br />

firms. Only in smaller firms (annual sales between $10 <strong>and</strong> $25 million) do<br />

we find CFO incomes below congressional salaries, but even <strong>the</strong>re CFO median<br />

pay was still a respectable $103,762. 160<br />

From newly rich corporate officers to <strong>the</strong> oldest American family fortunes,<br />

skybox-level incomes <strong>and</strong> wealth are clearly linked to <strong>the</strong> ongoing production<br />

of corporate profits. Privileged-class corporate officers underst<strong>and</strong> this connection.<br />

<strong>The</strong>refore, superclass members actively involved in corporate governance,<br />

along with a select group of upwardly mobile credentialed-class members<br />

groomed by superclass sponsors, work diligently to ensure <strong>the</strong> continued<br />

financial health, power, <strong>and</strong> survival of <strong>the</strong> corporate enterprise. At <strong>the</strong> highest<br />

levels of wealth, <strong>the</strong> corporate basis of immense personal wealth is clearly<br />

illustrated by CEO fortunes linked to specific firms. Examples include Bill<br />

Gates’s $50 billion Microsoft-based fortune, Warren E. Buffett’s $42 billion<br />

Berkshire-based empire, <strong>and</strong> Philip H. Knight’s $7.3 billion Nike-based holdings.<br />

161 Large corporations are clearly <strong>the</strong> engines that generate <strong>the</strong> income<br />

<strong>and</strong> wealth of <strong>the</strong> superclass <strong>and</strong> also of its credentialed-class allies.<br />

As a result of privileged-class ownership <strong>and</strong> control of large firms, <strong>the</strong> class<br />

interests of this group are served in three ways. First, much of <strong>the</strong> value of <strong>the</strong><br />

goods <strong>and</strong> services produced by workers is distributed through corporatebased<br />

channels <strong>and</strong> practices to superclass corporate owners <strong>and</strong> to <strong>the</strong>ir<br />

credentialed-class allies. <strong>The</strong> heart of this process is simple <strong>and</strong> increasingly<br />

transparent today. It begins with corporations’ paying workers far less (in<br />

wages <strong>and</strong> benefits) than <strong>the</strong> market value of what <strong>the</strong>y produce. <strong>The</strong> differ-

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