Warren Buffett has said that you should never ask a barber if you need a haircut. But if a barber tells you that you don't need a haircut, that probably means you really don't need one.
And while most people would agree that top executives at publicly traded companies are overpaid, we now have all the evidence we need to end this debate: They think they're overpaid too! A survey of 70 presidents and chief executives conducted by the National Association of Corporate Directors found that 2 out of 3 top executives thought chiefs were given high compensation relative to their performance. Only 2.2% thought the pay was too low!
It's time for corporate directors to be taken out to the woodshed. They have failed mightily in their duty to shareholders. They're supposed to be representing our interests, but instead serve as lapdogs, paying CEOs amounts of money that they themselves consider obscene!
Some have attempted to frame this as a populist issue, pointing to the fact that the gap between the rich and poor has reached its widest point in 60 years. But I'm more concerned about it as a corporate governance issue. Directors are pretty obviously wasting shareholders' resources on excessive compensation, and it needs to stop.
Last updated: February 10, 2012: 07:28 AM
Hot Stocks
DailyFinance Headlines
- Newlyweds, Don't Let the IRS Spoil Your Honeymoon
- Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger
- Why Groupon Will Never Be Great Again
- Why Used Car Bargains Are Getting Harder to Find
- 5 Reasons Facebook Stock May Be a Better Buy Than You Think
Benzinga Headlines
- How to Profit off Addicts
- The Pepsi Challenge for 8,700 People is to Find a New Job
- How to Profit From Surging Chinese Prices
- Credit Suisse is the Latest Swiss Bank to Disappoint
- Vodafone Misses Quarterly Revenue
TheFlyOnTheWall.com Headlines
- Greek workers launch general strike, NY Times says
- Realty Income downgraded to Sector Perform from Outperform at RBC Capital
- ValueVision renews three TV distribution agreements
- O'Charley's downgraded to Market Perform from Outperform at Morgan Keegan
- Alibaba Group to take private Hong Kong listed unit, Reuters reports
BioHealth Investor Headlines
- Can Human Genome Really Double Its Stock Price? (HGSI)
- Alimera Implosion Analysis, What Is Next (ALIM, PSDV)
- Implosion Analysis For Targacept… What Lies Ahead? (TRGT, AZN)
- Rare Analyst Calls With Huge Upside in Vical and VIVUS (VICL, VVUS, BMY)
- Top Biotechs With Upside Ahead of Earnings (GILD, AMLN, ARIA, INCY, JAZZ, DNDN, HGSI, ILMN, AMGN, CELG, BIIB, BMRN, LIFE, REGN, AMLN, CBST, ONXX, THRX, VPHM)
WalletPop Headlines
- Newlyweds, Don't Let the IRS Spoil Your Honeymoon
- Bonds Are a 'Safe' Investment: A Big Lie Gets Even Bigger
- Why Groupon Will Never Be Great Again
- Why Used Car Bargains Are Getting Harder to Find
- 5 Reasons Facebook Stock May Be a Better Buy Than You Think
My Portfolios
Track your stocks here!
Find out why more people track their portfolios on AOL Money & Finance then anywhere else.
BloggingStocks Partners
More from AOL Money & Finance
- Business News
- Stock Screener
- Stock Quotes
- Stock Charts
- Banking
- Identity Theft
- DJIA
- Debt Management
- Loans
- Auto Loan
- Mortgages
- Taxes
- Retirement
- Insurance
- Small Business
- Earnings
- Tech News
- Tax Forms
- Tax Deductions
- Tax Credit
- Tax Audit
- Tax Advice
- Stock Ticker
- Stock Brokers
- Resume Builder
- Pig Flu
- Online Tax Filing
- Madoff
- Investing For Retirement
- Income Tax
- Historical Stock Prices
- GOOG
- ETF Investing
- Deals
- DailyFinance
- Crude Oil Prices
- Credit Score Calculator
- Common Tax Filing Mistakes
- AMT
BioHealth Investor Headlines
- Can Human Genome Really Double Its Stock Price? (HGSI)
- Alimera Implosion Analysis, What Is Next (ALIM, PSDV)
- Implosion Analysis For Targacept… What Lies Ahead? (TRGT, AZN)
- Rare Analyst Calls With Huge Upside in Vical and VIVUS (VICL, VVUS, BMY)
- Top Biotechs With Upside Ahead of Earnings (GILD, AMLN, ARIA, INCY, JAZZ, DNDN, HGSI, ILMN, AMGN, CELG, BIIB, BMRN, LIFE, REGN, AMLN, CBST, ONXX, THRX, VPHM)
The Money Man Behind Rick Santorum: Who Is Foster S. Friess?
Savings Experiment: Snow Removal

