Joseph Darby on LinkedIn: Mark Zuckerberg has an annual salary of $1. (But this isn’t as selfless… | 42 comments (2024)

Mark Zuckerberg has an annual salary of just $1.The ‘$1 salary club’ is quite popular amongst the rich.People like Elon Musk from Tesla and Larry Page from Google are some others who are/were part of this club.How nice of them, right?A great gesture that shows they are more interested in the company's success than their personal financial gain.True. But there is more to this story than what meets the eye.These people are still billionaires who receive other (hefty) forms of compensation like company stock/equity.Why? Because the tax on capital gains is way less than the income tax on high-salary income.So they still make more while paying less.This is the difference between the rich and the truly wealthy.The rich work for money, but the wealthy make money work for them.(Incidentally, this would be illegal in New Zealand due to our tax codes!)

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“Profits are better than wages.”This is the phrase Jim Rohn used in one of his seminars, and it has stuck with me for more than 15 years. You can get profits by owning equity in a business. You can either start your own or join a company that offers equity packages. This way, you share the possible upside while getting paid a base salary. It’s an asymmetrical risk/reward situation with limited downside and unlimited upside. Whenever you are presented with such an opportunity, take the bet if the downside is manageable. Can equity really work out for employees?Yes. Just ask the numerous Nvidia employees turned millionaires.Were they lucky? Yes, but they also chose to work for a company that gave them equity and were exposed to the potential upside. When I hire people, I usually get significantly more questions about base salary than equity packages. Base pay is important, but equity is the one that can bring asymmetric returns. If you are thinking of changing jobs, consider growing companies with good equity packages, either startups (these are riskier, high risk/high reward) or established traded companies. This way, you will wear two hats: employee and shareholder. Pro tip: most of the time, the 2 hats collide :)

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It is about time! People tend to be more similar than different. It makes sense to pay a leader more than those who work for the company in smaller roles, but the US has lost the plot here. If someone is hired, presumably their value matters. As the Economic Policy Institute recently reported:“CEO pay is linked strongly to the stock market—and market declines in 2022 led to an uncharacteristic dip in CEO pay. Cumulatively, however, from 1978–2022, top CEO compensation shot up 1,209.2% compared with a 15.3% increase in a typical worker’s compensation. In 2022, CEOs were paid 344 times as much as a typical worker in contrast to 1965 when they were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker. To illustrate just how distorted CEO pay increases have gotten: In 2021, CEOs made nearly eight times as much as the top 0.1% of wage earners in the U.S. “

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Thoda muskurado, it's salary day 🐢💸🐇As the 31st rolls around, I can't help but think about the classic rabbit and turtle race. In the corporate world, earning a salary is like a turtle—slow and steady, taking its sweet time to reach the finish line. But the moment that paycheck hits, the money takes off like the rabbit, thanks to EMIs and expenses, disappearing faster than you can say "bunny hop." That's the corporate lesson I've learned from the rabbit and turtle story! If you are an entrepreneur or an employee, here's something that you will definitely relate to - https://lnkd.in/dpwjqSiv.

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Are you a tech employee with equity compensation?The biggest risk you face to your financial future isn’t AI. It’s your employer. Holding onto your employer stock (from stock options or stock purchase programs) can be one of the riskiest things you can do. I often see people with a huge portion of their net worth tied up in their company stock because they think it’s a “good company” and that they will “do well” in the future. I don’t doubt your confidence in your employer. But it’s a huge risk to take. A big part of your future success is ALREADY dependent on your employer continuing to pay your salary. Be careful letting your investments also be completely dependent on that same employer. As the old saying goes…don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

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CEO pay has increased 1460% since 1978. Executive pay has to be capped. Elon Musk is whining because his projected bonus of 56 billion dollars is deemed excessive. And knuckleheads earning $40,000/year believe he should get that money. EPD, one of my holdings is proposing a 6% staff reduction. And the CEO receives more than $10,000,000 a year. From my experience in the energy industry, a great compressor technician has worth at EPD. He/she can affect quarterly earnings. The CEO is fluff. Learns to use all the current catch phrases but in reality has no real worth. New plan, let the top 10 executives at EPD go and promote the staff directly below them at a salary of 10% of the existing executives. Save ten million on the new CEO compensation, that’s a hundred compressor techs and other staff at $100,000/year keeping energy products moving. Repeat down the corporate ladder and the 6% job cuts go away. Earnings go up. Environmental problems go down. And the very last fact. If you own a hardware store/insurance company/any freaking company or service provider 100 jobs at $100,000/year is better than one goober being compensated at ten million. Wake up workers. The problem is most of the economic pie goes to the few not the many who are actually invaluable.

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💰 How the richest people in the world LEGALLY avoid paying tax 😮Here's the key point to remember 👇🏼Governments will tax income, but gains made on investment assets such as company stocks or property is only taxed upon sale.The world's richest people understand this principle, so they hold real assets and then rather than sell (which would incur a taxable gain) they simply borrow against them.Since a loan is a debt that needs to be repaid in future, it does not class as income or a gain, so it is not taxed.Here are some examples 🤯Jeff Bezos earns a salary of just $80,000 as CEO of Amazon. Yet, he currently has a net worth of around $200billion!! His true tax rate is less than 1%.Mark Zuckerberg is famously the lowest paid employee at Facebook (Meta), paying himself just $1 per year to avoid paying income tax! The median salary for all other Meta employees is $379,000 but they will pay a far higher proportion of tax as a result.Warren Buffett's salary from his company, Berkshire Hathaway, has been unchanged at $100,000 for the last 35 years and his company does not pay dividends. His true tax rate based on his gains from 2014 to 2018 was just 0.1%!What can the average person learn from this? 🤔You may not be able to get paid in company stock and then borrow against them like the very richest billionaires do, but some principles still apply.✅ Invest in real assets, particularly property, because it's easy to borrow against.✅ As it grows in value, rather than sell (which crystallises a capital gain and incurs tax) you can remortgage to borrow more money and release equity as cash into your bank.✅ Money borrowed against a property is a loan, so it is tax free.

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Unveiling the $1 Salary Secret: Why Top CEOs Like Zuckerberg and Musk Do It Cherishing the pinnacle of leadership within any organization, the role of a CEO is immensely demanding and prestigious. Surprisingly, some of the world’s most influential CEOs opt for a symbolic salary of just $1. Curious why? Let's dive in!The Reality Behind a CEO's Salary: Prominent CEOs like Jack Dorsey, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Steve Jobs, and Larry Ellison have embraced the $1 salary trend. Despite this nominal salary, they rank among the richest individuals. Why? The answer lies in taxes and strategic financial planning.The $1 Salary Concept Explained: By choosing a minimal salary, these CEOs avoid hefty income taxes. Instead, they receive stock options, equity, and performance-based bonuses, which are taxed at lower rates. This strategy not only reduces tax liabilities but also ties their earnings directly to their companies’ performance, driving them toward greater success.Historical Context: The practice dates back to the early 1900s, with notable examples during World War II and the 1978 Chrysler revival led by Lee Iacocca.Modern Motivations: Today's CEOs use this approach to maximize earnings strategically. It's not just about offering services for free but aligning financial incentives with company performance.How Do They Manage? Their compensation isn't limited to $1. They receive substantial stock options and equity, taxed at lower rates. As their companies succeed, the value of their shares increases, resulting in significant gains.Notable $1 Salary CEOs:Larry Page, Co-founder of GoogleSergey Brin, Co-founder of GoogleMark Zuckerberg, Co-founder and CEO of MetaElon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and TeslaSteve Jobs, Co-founder of AppleMeg Whitman, former CEO of HPJeremy Stoppelman, CEO of YelpJack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter and SquareDiscover the strategic brilliance behind the $1 salary and how it aligns their interests with their companies’ long-term success.🔗 Read the full blog post here: https://lnkd.in/eTjHFeh9#CEO #BusinessStrategy #TaxEfficiency #Leadership #Facebook

What is the Median Pay of Magnificent Seven Companies?https://ift.tt/KG1Sym9 See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.What is the Median Pay of Magnificent Seven Companies?This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.The Magnificent Seven are lifting the stock market to new highs, led by Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, and Alphabet in particular.In May alone, these tech giants added $1.4 trillion in market capitalization to the S&P 500—surpassing the combined gains of 296 other stocks during the same period. Notably, Nvidia contributed to more than half of this rise. As tech stocks boom, many are offering robust salaries with substantial stock option plans.This graphic shows the median pay of the Magnificent Seven companies in 2023, based on analysis from The Wall Street Journal and MyLogIQ.The Highest Paying Companies in the Magnificent SevenBelow, we show the median employee pay of the Magnificent Seven companies in 2023: CompanyMedian Employee Pay2023CEO Total Pay2023Meta$379,050$24.4MAlphabet$315,531$8.8MNvidia$266,939$34.2MMicrosoft$193,770$48.5MApple$94,118$63.2MTesla$45,811$0MAmazon$36,274$1.4MData for Microsoft is from SEC filings. Total CEO pay includes equity awards and cash pay.Meta ranks as the highest overall, with a median pay of $379,050, which is more than six times the national median salary.Not only is it the leading company in the Magnificent Seven, it has one of the highest median pay across S&P 500 companies. Between 2022 and 2023, employee pay increased 28%, following four rounds of layoffs that slashed thousands of employees in its “year of efficiency”.Following Meta is Google’s parent company, Alphabet, with a median pay of $315,531. The company operates a hybrid work policy, requiring employees to be in the office about three days a week. This mirrors a trend seen across Amazon and Salesforce to encourage in-person collaboration. At Nvidia, employees received a median pay of $266,939, fueled by its soaring share price. Last year, over $300 million in value was delivered to its staff under its employee stock purchase plan. Along with a competitive pay package, the company offers an unlimited vacation policy along with 22-weeks of paid parental leave.Falling near the bottom of the pack is Tesla, where the median salary for employees is $45,811. The automotive sector is notorious for steep wage gaps between CEOs and workers, with CEOs often earning 300 times more than the median employee.In 2023, Tesla CEO Elon Musk earned no compensation, and is instead paid through incentive-based stock options. Recently, a judge invalidated a staggering $56 billion pay package for the executive, deeming it unfair to the company’s shareholders. This pay package was awarded in 2018, with stipulations that Tesla meet certain performan...

What Kind of Car Does the Fed Chairman Drive?A Tesla... which actually makes sense, since something in his life should have auto-pilotMost Business Owners and Executives are keeping an eye on what the Fed Chairman discloses during their monthly meetings, and one aspect that’s standing out is that his use of terminology is starting to sound a lot like an automobile spec sheet'Accelerating' Prime Interest, 'Parking' employment,'Front Seat' priorities, 'Turbocharging' response times, 'Cruise Control' economy... Outside of his discourse, there's one thing that's for sure: he’s not late on his Tesla payments (if he even has any)The same might not be true for your employees, with 37% of the U.S. population having less than $400 saved for an emergency, 53% having maxed out their credit cards and nearly 40% of Americans now struggling to pay their bills… that's a 25% increase over last yearThe Earned Wage Access SolutionEarned Wage Access (EWA) a new Fintech payday solution that gives cash-strapped workers the ability to receive a portion of their wages before their usual payday. Rellevate’s revolutionary Pay Any-Day platform utilizing the latest in PayCard technology is a zero-cost program for employers with over 3 million accounts and over $1 Billion in volume in the last year alone#paycard #employeebenefits #employeeretention #earnedwageaccess

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