Is Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Pay Package Really About Compensation?

Serafeim says, “much of the discussion to date misses the point. The design of the compensation plan and its announcement were… about signaling a credible commitment to Tesla’s purpose: to become a clean energy giant that helps address climate change by transforming mobility. To get there, Musk needs not only the normal sort of investor confidence, but also for investors to buy into his radical vision for the company.” READ MORE

3 Critical Factors that Contribute to Your Compensation Offer

If you’re waiting to receive a job offer and salary package—or perhaps having already gotten it and are puzzling over what you’ve been offered—if can be helpful to understand the drivers behind what goes into a compensation package. To be sure, it’s not rocket science, but putting some parameters around how companies evaluate candidates and structure their compensation strategies can play an important role in helping you assess whether you’re being paid what you’re worth. READ MORE

For CEOs, $11.7 million a year is just middle of the pack

Chief executives at the biggest public companies got an 8.5 percent raise last year, bringing the median pay package for CEOs to $11.7 million. Across the S&P 500, compensation for CEOs is often hundreds of times higher than typical workers.

The pay increase matches the bump that CEOs received in 2016, according to salary, stock and other compensation data analyzed by Equilar for The Associated Press.  READ MORE

Six CEO pay packages that explain soaring executive compensation

As economic uncertainty roils the country, the income gap between top executives and everyday employees continues to grow ever wider.

This year, thanks to a rule in the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking regulation law, publicly traded corporations in the United States had to begin comparing the pay of their chief executives to the median compensation of other employees at the company. The results, collected in the Equilar 200 Highest-Paid C.E.O. Rankings, were predictably striking.  READ MORE

Halliburton Shareholders Reject Executive Compensation Plan

Halliburton Co. shareholders have rejected for the first time an executive compensation plan that management had touted to line up with company returns and retain key employees.

In a tally at the annual shareholder meeting, close to 364 million votes were opposed to the nonbinding advisory item, and nearly 270 million were in favor of the proposed plan, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. READ MORE

Median CEO compensation $11.7M in 2017

Chief executives at the biggest public companies got an 8.5 percent raise last year, bringing the median pay package for CEOs to $11.7 million. Across the S&P 500, compensation for CEOs is often hundreds of times higher than typical workers.

The pay increase matches the bump that CEOs received in 2016, according to salary, stock and other compensation data analyzed by Equilar for The Associated Press. READ MORE

Six C.E.O. Pay Packages That Explain Soaring Executive Compensation

As economic uncertainty roils the country, the income gap between top executives and everyday employees continues to grow ever wider.

This year, thanks to a rule in the 2010 Dodd-Frank banking regulation law, publicly traded corporations in the United States had to begin comparing the pay of their chief executives to the median compensation of other employees at the company. The results, collected in the Equilar 200 Highest-Paid C.E.O. Rankings, were predictably striking. READ MORE

162(m) Deductions for Executive Compensation

Old Rule

Except for special rules that apply to public companies, the reasonable compensation of all employees is fully deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense. Before this year the compensation deduction of a covered employee in a public company was generally capped at $1 million, except for commissions and performance compensation. A public company could deduct a covered employee’s commissions and performance-based compensation. To be deductible, performance-based compensation had to be attributable to a written, objective performance standard, established by the company’s independent compensation committee on or before the 90th day of the service period, and approved by a separate shareholder vote. The amount of the performance-based compensation had to be reduced to a formula, although the employer could retain the discretion to reduce or eliminate (but not increase) the compensation awarded. READ MORE

How to Improve your Organization’s Performance

Employees frequently have to deal with demands for improved performance. The demands are typically accompanied by simplistic solutions, such as fire more people, tighten your performance standards or improve your IT systems. Rarely is there an acknowledgement that performance problems may be caused by inadequate resources, unrealistic expectations or a bureaucracy that is difficult to navigate. READ MORE

CEOs aren't disclosing their real compensation. The pay gap is much worse than you think.

Beginning this year public companies must compare the pay of their CEO with that of their median employee. Required by Dodd-Frank, disclosure of this CEO pay ratio has produced some jaw-dropping numbers. Aptiv, a maker of auto parts, reported that its CEO made 2,526 time more that its median employee. The CEO pay ratio was 2,483 to 1 at the temp agency ManpowerGroup, 1,804 to 1 at amusement park owner Six Flags, and 1,465 to 1 at Del Monte Produce. READ MORE

The ‘Hidden’ Tax Cost of Executive Compensation

The sweeping tax reform enacted in December 2017 will significantly increase the tax cost of executive compensation in publicly held corporations where the compensation for each of the top five executives exceeds $1 million. Nonetheless, it is unlikely that these corporations will reduce the executive compensation to offset the increased tax cost, which will likely be shifted to public shareholders.  READ MORE

Executive Compensation and Employee Benefits Following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017

Effective December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “Act”) made significant changes to certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”).

While there was much discussion and analysis of the Act leading up to its enactment, the Act contains many changes to the federal income tax treatment of executive compensation and/or employee benefits of which corporate executives, officers and human resource personnel should be aware to ensure the proper federal income tax treatment and reporting of such items, while satisfying the financial goals to be attained by the recipient employees. READ MORE

Executive Compensation as Corporate Waste? Delaware Court Allows a Lawsuit to Continue

I don’t believe that any court has decided in favor of plaintiffs alleging that the payment of executive compensation was a breach of fiduciary duty for a waste of corporate assets—until now. The reason is that (in the face of the business judgment rule) corporate waste is very difficult to prove. But last week, the Delaware Chancery Court allowed plaintiffs to continue with their shareholder derivative claims against the board of CBS Corporation in Feuer v. Redstone.  READ MORE