I recorded a video on one of my favorite topics. Sorry, but I just couldn’t ignore the news—which came out at the end of the New Year holidays—that Apple had penalized its CEO, Tim Cook.
His pay was cut for failing to meet the planned profit target. In 2016, Cook’s annual compensation will amount to $8.7 million instead of the planned $10 million.
As I read this, my thoughts are not in Cupertino with Tim Cook at all, but in Moscow with Igor Sechin and Alexei Miller.
Judging by their salaries (paid by state-owned companies), they are clearly not the louts and talentless idlers we all thought they were, but top-tier managers of the highest class.
They clearly did not fail at their jobs, as the companies’ reports show, but managed these huge innovative corporations magnificently.
True, Apple’s market capitalization is not even comparable to that of Gazprom and Rosneft:
The same goes for profit:
But when it comes to pay, our high-flyers wipe the floor with the American, Cook:
What fine fellows.
If I am elected president, criminal cases will be opened against these fine fellows. And not only against them, but also against the officials who approved such salaries.
As for the members of the boards of directors of Gazprom and Rosneft who voted for these compensation packages, we will first file claims against them for damages, and then disqualify them for life.
If you like this plan, sign in support of my nomination.
By the way, read Bershidsky’s excellent 2013 article: National Champions: How Russian State Managers Overtook Their Western Counterparts. There you’ll find a more accurate comparison—oil executives against oil executives. It compares Sechin with Tillerson, who is now working for Trump. The conclusion is the same: the salaries of the heads of Russia’s largest state-owned companies are completely unjustified.
P.S. Here is all the data, if anyone wants to check:
Gazprom — Miller’s compensation for 2015 — $17.7 million — Market capitalization (as of January 10, 2017) — $61.4 billion, 3.69 trillion rubles — Profit for 2015 attributable to Gazprom shareholders — 787.1 billion rubles Rosneft — Sechin’s compensation for 2015 — $13 million — Market capitalization (as of January 10, 2017) — $70.1 billion, 4.25 trillion rubles — Profit for 2015 attributable to Rosneft shareholders — 355 billion rubles Apple — Tim Cook’s compensation for 2015 — $10.3 million (in 2016 it became $8.75 million) — Market capitalization (as of January 10, 2017) — $631.4 billion — Net profit for fiscal year 2015 — $53.4 billion (in 2016 it fell to $45.7 billion)