James Sinegal Quotes
Obscene salaries send the wrong message through a company. The message is that all brilliance emanates from the top; that the worker on the floor of the store or the factory is insignificant.
Greenhouse, Steven. "How Costco Became the Anti-Wal-Mart." The New York Times, 17 July 2005.
That has been the average perception well into the 21st century.
The huge salaries paid to CEO’s in the early 21st century became a major political issue during the George W. Bush administration in the wake of the Corporate scandals like Enron and the failure of the Government to prevent these frauds. The tax deductibility of the huge salaries also attracted political attention at a time when Bush policies had created the largest deficits in the history of the world.
High level financial industry executives were earnings millions of dollars even if the company did poorly. In many cases annual bonuses were paid even after the firm lost money and in some cases after the firm had to be sold to stave off bankruptcy. The worst thing in 2009 and 2010 was when some of the banks paid million dollar and more bonuses while the company was getting bailout money from the taxpayers to prevent their bankruptcy.
James D. Sinegal, also known as Jim Sinegal, is a retired American billionaire businessman who is the co-founder and former CEO of the Costco Wholesale Corporation, an international retail chain.
