r/technology • u/geoxol • Jan 13 '23 • Bravo! 1 Helpful (Pro) 1

Apple CEO Tim Cook to take more than 40% pay cut Business

https://apnews.com/article/technology-apple-inc-tim-cook-business-d056553b10120c4a968b562cb7ece5d2
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u/BigGreen4 Jan 13 '23

According to the articles, this was his idea, after having listened to feedback from shareholders. He then put it to the shareholders to vote and they agreed, about 66% in favor of the new compensation package.

I just hope the funds saved will remain in employee compensation and be redirected to the employees. This would be a big step forward. (I understand that’s wishful thinking.)

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u/kent_eh Jan 13 '23

He then put it to the shareholders to vote and they agreed, about 66% in favor of the new compensation package.

I just hope the funds saved will remain in employee compensation and be redirected to the employees

If the shareholders wanted it, then they'll be the ones getting any extra money.

I would be shocked if they voted for anything other than their own personal enrichment.

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u/BigGreen4 Jan 13 '23 edited Jan 13 '23

Which is a good and valid point that CEO’s are not the one’s who control employee wages long-term. It’s the shareholders.

If Tim Cook gave all employees a 50% raise - everybody’s happy in the world. Until earnings come out, and the company (likely) underperforms. When a company underperforms, their shares tend to lose value. When the stock loses value, the shareholders lose money. The shareholders then pressure the board to fire the CEO (Tim Cook). New CEO moves in, cuts wages to get earnings back in line, and we’re back where we started.

Yet everyone points their fingers at the CEO.

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u/Bakoro Jan 13 '23 edited Jan 14 '23

"Underperforms" the completely bullshit, high sloped infinite growth curve that shareholders expect, even during a recession.

The greedy psychopaths we generally call "shareholders" look at a perfectly healthy company, with steady returns, and a good long term strategy, and those shareholders will says it's "underperforming", because the company could also be sucking the blood from newborn children to maximize next quarter's profits.

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u/BigGreen4 Jan 13 '23

Those “greedy psychopaths” are generally your average, everyday citizen with a retirement plan. Or at least it’s their votes, proxied by their broker. Maybe everybody should stop allowing their brokers to vote for them, and instead tune in for the calls and/or votes?

I totally understand what you mean though. The world could be a much better place if people/corporations (that aren’t trying to advance the planet, human race, etc) could be content with matching last years’ record profit, vs upset they didn’t beat it by another 10%.

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u/Bakoro Jan 13 '23

Those “greedy psychopaths” are generally your average, everyday citizen with a retirement plan. Or at least it’s their votes, proxied by their broker.

Yeah, and brokers are likely greedy sociopaths.

Anyone who can look at a downward trending economy, or an industry devastated by some event, and still demand that they outperform the good times, is either a greedy idiot, or a greedy sociopath. That's all there is too it.

We've seen it time and time again.

The selfishness and short-sightedness is astounding.

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u/jobonki Jan 14 '23

Maybe don’t have brokers, direct register shares, then all votes are purposeful votes from informed individuals not psychopathic businesses

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u/Bakoro Jan 14 '23

That would be a step in the right direction.

Ideally, no one who doesn't directly work for the company would have ownership. Funding for businesses should either be in the form of loans, or people investing their time as well as cash.

The idea that someone can provide a one-time monetary investment and then get returns forever, but employees who actually create the value only get paid once, is a ridiculous, farcical system. The only reason people are fooled into thinking it's anything like a fair system is because the modern world derived from fuedal systems, and eras where humans owned humans as property, and that's a low bar to clear.

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u/baseball43v3r Jan 14 '23

Tell that to the average 65 year old that had a 401k and had the ecomony crash right before they retired, thus delaying their retirement. Are they greedy and sociopaths for wanting their investments to go up?

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u/siegmour Jan 14 '23

Pretty much this. It baffles my mind that people imagine shareholders as some kind of lizard people.

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u/Aururian Jan 14 '23

yeah what’s the alternative? capitalism is flawed but it’s the best system around, and if you say socialism is better you’re literally a genocide denier