伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司CEO沃伦·巴菲特表示，随着高管们相互攀比薪酬待遇，CEO薪酬滚雪球式增长趋势愈发明显。
这封年度股东信是他在1月1日副董事长格雷格·阿贝尔接任CEO前的最后一次执笔。他指出，CEO们看到竞争对手提高薪酬后，会在贪婪与自私的驱使下，进一步抬高自身薪酬水平。
“那些富有的CEO也是普通人，真正让他们困扰的往往是其他CEO比自己更富有。”他写道，“嫉妒与贪婪如影随形。试问哪位顾问会建议大幅削减CEO或董事薪酬？”
在特斯拉股东上周四批准CEO马斯克创纪录的万亿薪酬方案之后，巴菲特发表了此番言论。该方案以特斯拉达成8.5万亿美元市值为兑现条件，一旦达成，这位已然是全球首富的企业家将成为史上首位万亿富翁。目前，马斯克的净资产约为4490亿美元。
次日，电动汽车竞争对手Rivian效仿马斯克的薪酬方案，宣布未来十年将向CEO RJ·斯卡林格（RJ Scaringe）提供46亿美元薪酬。该方案将使斯卡林格的20亿美元基本薪资翻倍，但其兑现同样取决于该车企未来七年能否达成特定营业收入和现金流目标。
特斯拉和Rivian均未立即回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。
巴菲特在致股东信中回顾执掌这家多元化企业集团六十年的经历时指出，企业披露CEO薪酬的初衷之一，是至少让高管对自身薪资水平有点自知之明。然而，这一原本旨在让高管保持谦逊的举措，最终却演变成了一场彰显优越感的竞赛。
“在我有生之年，改革者试图通过要求披露CEO与普通员工的薪酬差距，让CEO自惭形秽。”巴菲特指出，“结果是，委托投票说明书的篇幅从之前的20页左右骤增至百余页。这些善意举措并未达到预期效果，却适得其反。”
“根据我的观察，大多数情况下，A公司的CEO看到竞争对手B公司CEO的薪酬后，会委婉地向自己的董事会暗示，自己应获得更高薪酬。当然，他们还会提高董事的薪酬，并精心挑选薪酬委员会成员。”他补充道，“新规定催生了嫉妒，而非克制。”
美国政策研究所8月发布的报告显示，美国百家低薪雇主薪酬总额在2019至2024年间暴涨34.7%。CEO与普通员工薪酬比同样失控，从2019年的560:1飙升至去年的632:1。根据乐施会本月发布的报告，天价薪酬已使美国最富有的亿万富翁今年财富增加6980亿美元。相比之下，巴菲特的年薪仅为10万美元（不过，凭借投资，他的净资产约达1500亿美元，成为全球第11大富豪）。
其他金融巨头也对天价薪酬方案提出异议，尤其针对马斯克的薪酬方案。持有特斯拉1.14%股份的挪威央行投资管理公司（该机构管理着2万亿美元主权财富基金）表示已对马斯克的薪酬方案投出反对票。
“尽管我们认可马斯克先生富有远见的领导所创造的巨大价值，但对该薪酬方案的奖励总额、股权稀释效应以及缺乏关键人物风险缓冲机制表示担忧——这与我们对高管薪酬的一贯立场一致。”该机构上周在声明中表示。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
伯克希尔-哈撒韦公司CEO沃伦·巴菲特表示，随着高管们相互攀比薪酬待遇，CEO薪酬滚雪球式增长趋势愈发明显。
这封年度股东信是他在1月1日副董事长格雷格·阿贝尔接任CEO前的最后一次执笔。他指出，CEO们看到竞争对手提高薪酬后，会在贪婪与自私的驱使下，进一步抬高自身薪酬水平。
“那些富有的CEO也是普通人，真正让他们困扰的往往是其他CEO比自己更富有。”他写道，“嫉妒与贪婪如影随形。试问哪位顾问会建议大幅削减CEO或董事薪酬？”
在特斯拉股东上周四批准CEO马斯克创纪录的万亿薪酬方案之后，巴菲特发表了此番言论。该方案以特斯拉达成8.5万亿美元市值为兑现条件，一旦达成，这位已然是全球首富的企业家将成为史上首位万亿富翁。目前，马斯克的净资产约为4490亿美元。
次日，电动汽车竞争对手Rivian效仿马斯克的薪酬方案，宣布未来十年将向CEO RJ·斯卡林格（RJ Scaringe）提供46亿美元薪酬。该方案将使斯卡林格的20亿美元基本薪资翻倍，但其兑现同样取决于该车企未来七年能否达成特定营业收入和现金流目标。
特斯拉和Rivian均未立即回应《财富》杂志的置评请求。
巴菲特在致股东信中回顾执掌这家多元化企业集团六十年的经历时指出，企业披露CEO薪酬的初衷之一，是至少让高管对自身薪资水平有点自知之明。然而，这一原本旨在让高管保持谦逊的举措，最终却演变成了一场彰显优越感的竞赛。
“在我有生之年，改革者试图通过要求披露CEO与普通员工的薪酬差距，让CEO自惭形秽。”巴菲特指出，“结果是，委托投票说明书的篇幅从之前的20页左右骤增至百余页。这些善意举措并未达到预期效果，却适得其反。”
“根据我的观察，大多数情况下，A公司的CEO看到竞争对手B公司CEO的薪酬后，会委婉地向自己的董事会暗示，自己应获得更高薪酬。当然，他们还会提高董事的薪酬，并精心挑选薪酬委员会成员。”他补充道，“新规定催生了嫉妒，而非克制。”
美国政策研究所8月发布的报告显示，美国百家低薪雇主薪酬总额在2019至2024年间暴涨34.7%。CEO与普通员工薪酬比同样失控，从2019年的560:1飙升至去年的632:1。根据乐施会本月发布的报告，天价薪酬已使美国最富有的亿万富翁今年财富增加6980亿美元。相比之下，巴菲特的年薪仅为10万美元（不过，凭借投资，他的净资产约达1500亿美元，成为全球第11大富豪）。
其他金融巨头也对天价薪酬方案提出异议，尤其针对马斯克的薪酬方案。持有特斯拉1.14%股份的挪威央行投资管理公司（该机构管理着2万亿美元主权财富基金）表示已对马斯克的薪酬方案投出反对票。
“尽管我们认可马斯克先生富有远见的领导所创造的巨大价值，但对该薪酬方案的奖励总额、股权稀释效应以及缺乏关键人物风险缓冲机制表示担忧——这与我们对高管薪酬的一贯立场一致。”该机构上周在声明中表示。（*）
译者：中慧言-王芳
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett said he has seen a burgeoning trend of snowballing CEO pay as executives eyeball each other’s ever-growing compensation deals.
In his annual shareholder letter—the last one he will pen as CEO before Berkshire vice chair Greg Abel takes over on Jan. 1—Buffett suggested chief executives are driven by greed and selfishness to drive up their own pay after seeing competitors ratchet up their own remunerations.
“What often bothers very wealthy CEOs—they are human, after all—is that other CEOs are getting even richer,” he said. “Envy and greed walk hand in hand. And what consultant ever recommended a serious cut in CEO compensation or board payments?”
Buffett’s remarks come on the heels of Tesla investors approving CEO Elon Musk’s record-breaking $1 trillion pay package on Thursday. The compensation package, contingent on the EV company reaching an $8.5 trillion market capitalization, would make the already-world’s-richest-man into the first trillionaire. Musk’s net worth is currently about $449 billion.
The next day, EV competitor Rivian announced a $4.6 billion compensation package for CEO RJ Scaringe over the next decade, modeled after Musk’s plan. The package, which would double Scaringe’s base salary of $2 billion, is also dependent on the automaker reaching certain operating income and cash flow targets over the next seven years.
Tesla and Rivian did not immediately respond to Fortune’s requests for comment.
Buffett, reflecting on 60 years of leading his multi-industry conglomerate, said in his letter that companies’ disclosures of CEO pay was in part an effort to make executives at least a little self-conscious about the amount of money they were earning. However, what was intended as a gesture to humble instead became a contest of superiority.
“During my lifetime, reformers sought to embarrass CEOs by requiring the disclosure of the compensation of the boss compared to what was being paid to the average employee,” Buffett said. “Proxy statements promptly ballooned to 100-plus pages compared to 20 or less earlier. But the good intentions didn’t work; instead they backfired.”
“Based on the majority of my observations—the CEO of company ‘A’ looked at his competitor at company ‘B’ and subtly conveyed to his board that he should be worth more. Of course, he also boosted the pay of directors and was careful who he placed on the compensation committee,” he added. “The new rules produced envy, not moderation.”
Indeed, compensation packages have swelled extravagantly, climbing 34.7% among the U.S.’s 100 largest low-wage employers from 2019 to 2024, according to an August report from the Institute for Policy Studies. The CEO-to-worker pay ratio similarly ballooned, growing from 560:1 in 2019 to 632:1 last year. Inordinate pay packages have helped make the country’s wealthiest billionaires $698 billion richer this year, per an Oxfam report published this month. Buffett, in contrast, has an annual salary of $100,000 (though his net worth sits at around $150 billion thanks to his investments, making him the 11th richest person on earth).
Other financial giants have spoken out against exorbitant pay packages, Musk’s in particular. Norges Investment Management, the entity behind Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund and a 1.14% stakeholder in Tesla, voted against Musk’s compensation plan.
“While we appreciate the significant value created under Mr. Musk’s visionary role,” the group said in a statement last week, “we are concerned about the total size of the award, dilution, and lack of mitigation of key person risk—consistent with our views on executive compensation.”