Another Over Paid Google Exec: $4 Million | Hacker News Reader

Another Over Paid Google Exec: $4 Million

webguild.org

He makes $4 million/year. Google's net interest income was $167 million last quarter. So if he's able to increase their interest income by more than about .7%, he's worth the $4 million/year for that alone.

If you were 1% better than your predecessor at just one aspect of your job, would it be worth your entire annual compensation to your employer? I doubt it. With a company that huge, a tiny improvement in their financial policies can make a massive difference -- and the people who can effect such changes are worth a premium.

Google has incredibly complex finances. An incompetent or corrupt CFO could easily cost Google tens or hundreds of millions, or knock billions off its market cap in the event of a scandal.

There's no evidence or reasoning here to justify the headline's judgment that this executive is "Over Paid". It's just unthinking populist resentment.

to demonstrate overpaid you must compare actual pay to actual value. so provide an estimate of his value, or you have no grounds to call him overpaid.

Why is there such a big salary difference between the executives and their engineers? Without us they wouldn't have a product to sell! Who feels under appreciated?

You need to have the right people at the top and when you find someone you do what it takes to get them.

There's a reason it took Google almost a year to find a new CFO.

If you think Google is undervaluing your work there's only three ways to do: one, convince Google to pay you more; two, go work for a company that will pay you what you think you're worth; and three, strike out on your own and let the market prove to everyone what you're worth.

Anything else is just whining.

>Anything else is just whining.

From an employee's perspective, I agree. From Google's perspective, I think questioning senior executive pay versus engineer pay is valid; why pay engineers this much and managers that much? Is that healthy?

Agreed. You get paid what the market will bear. There are fewer CFOs with experience managing the finances of $Billion+ companies than there are engineers who have developed high performance apps. Given this scarcity, and that the CFO (and CEO) are ultimately responsible for the finances of the company, and that they report to the board and shareholders, it's not surprising that Google pays its CFO more than it pays its top engineers.

I think the article inadvertantly points out another reason why CFOs get paid a lot - make a mistake and you can end up in prison for a decade.

And without competent and effective executives you would have no company to work at. You both need each other. And how many stock options have engineers gotten? I bet Google has made more nerd millionaires than MBA millionaires.

I know hackers won't like to hear this, but in business, dealing with people is the biggest problem you will face.

"investigations reveal that even in such technical lines such as engineering, about 15% of one's financial success is due to one's technical knowledge and about 85% is due to skill in human engineering-- to personality and the ability to lead people." -- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Dude! Why do you guys have to hate? It's just a simple question. Without that question, you guy wouldn't be posting comments!

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