Is Steve jobs overpaid?

[imacguy]

Ok, for everybody upset about the .Mac service fees, and for everybody who lost their ass on Apple stock (like me, lost over 70%, bought right before the cube intro), check out this article:

http://www.fortune.com/indexw.jhtml?channel=artcol.jhtml&doc_id=202914

Then come back and state your opinion on things.

I have nothing against Steve, quite the contrary, but if he would have ONLY taken $100 million in pay last year Apple would have made another $281 million, or about $70 million a quarter. Good grief! Don't try to tell me that wouldn't have helped the Apples stock prices.

wes

imac 266
Tibook 667 DVI

[AlphaTech]

Stock options are not the same as a salary... :rolleyes: IF you read all of the section about Jobs, you would have seen that he gets paid $1 (real cash, not stock or such).

[G4scott]

That does seem kinda weird, but remember, the stock options are worth only as much as the company. If the company's stock was to drop below 10 cents a share (which I hope it never does), Jobs would have considerably less money...

[AlphaTech]

Exactly, G4scott, with technology stocks being as they are these days, and that article dated from LAST YEAR(June 25, 2001), it holds about as much value as windblows does (to a Mac user). :eek: :eek: :p :D

[drastik]

Options are a totally different thing than salary, people who don't understand economics shouldn't talk about it. Business is business.

[topicolo]

Nevertheless, if he does exercise all of his stock options it would be detrimental to the shareholders since he is diluting Apple's stock by about 10%. Damn Bush for not supporting the expensing of stock options. Dumb ba$tard.

[firewire2001]

Originally posted by AlphaTech
Stock options are not the same as a salary... :rolleyes: IF you read all of the section about Jobs, you would have seen that he gets paid $1 (real cash, not stock or such).

yeah.. but the joke of the whole thing is that they pay for him to travel wherever he wants in his own private jet, pays for his personal stuff (clothes), and even his house...

[topicolo]

those are small fries compared to his compensation package.

[Computer_Phreak]

Just think of it as Steve owning more of the company, becuase the stocks (to him) are worth nothing unless he sells the shares, which he won't do because of the negative effect to Apple's stock price.

[firewire2001]

"Computer_Phreak"... heh thats a funny name..

kinda like phreaking..

[imacguy]

Actually, Jobs has cashed in some significant amount of stock options in the passed.... these came of course just prior to the stock plummetting. There's even a class action lawsuit about him and Apple execs cashing out before the stock dropped so badly.

Many companies have announced that they will be including stock options in expenses (Coca-Cola is one of them). Apple should take the high road and follow suit.

[topicolo]

I agree. Stock options have value since you can sell the options themselves. Thus, if you're giving out things of value, they should be on your expense report--doing anything less would be fraudulent and nothing better than Enron/Worldcom/Global Crossing/Adelphia/etc.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by drastik
Options are a totally different thing than salary, people who don't understand economics shouldn't talk about it. Business is business.

i went to mba school and like many became a dot.com'er in san jose and i got options and stock and of all the dot.com and high tech people i met, not one made a dime on the stock options

not one

cash is cash...period

even gold does not have the backing or the power as us dollars (even the choice currency of terrorists who downgrade our system of economics)

[topicolo]

well you should've sold your options for cash when they still had value. You know that you can trade options, right? Just because you didn't trade them doesn't mean they're valueless.

[jefhatfield]

Originally posted by topicolo
well you should've sold your options for cash when they still had value. You know that you can trade options, right? Just because you didn't trade them doesn't mean they're valueless.

the only person i know who came out ahead was in involved in...advance information...he he...and he didn't get caught...yet...but so goes the world of venture capitalism...the main premise is that they get to see your accounting records and give you and others "advice"...it is basically legalized crime as the stock market is legalized gambling (almost though, on both counts)

stock options and even high tech stock is like a lottery ticket...it could be worth something, but very rarely is

i will take cash, thank you

man, i also have to invite you, too to northern california so see how badly people did with stock options and the dot.com fiasco...so many people have this view of options and how it relates to silicon valley and how the press views it, that i want to invite everybody to northern california to show them the ugly truth

there is a pretty good chance that if you look at all the companies on the skids, one of them will rally and make the person who invests now a very rich person in a few years...but will you be willing to put, say 25k, into worldcomm, kmart, or american airlines? in truth, it is not much different than buying lottery tickets or playing the lotto...we are talking long odds

forget the silicon valley stock options, or lottery tickets, and save your money and only invest a in safe, diversified way

i met a 10 million dollar lotto winner, but does that make me think i will be one, too since i sat and had a beer with him and he seemed like a normal guy like the rest of us?