CEO Pay vs Superstars

I'll never get this, and it really bothers me that this is the state of play in our country. CEO's have been made to be horrible, evil people for making a lot of money. Superstars, on the other hand, are left alone. Their large, unfairly large pay checks are completely ignored by the media. If a CEO makes millions, whoa, this is just evidence of the injustice that pervades the system.

Why is one okay, but the other is not? Granted, Leo Apotheker had no business at HP. He still received his golden parachute. It is outrageous. But, doesn't it seem outrageous that some thug athlete (the ones who are out there saying "I'm not a role model" and getting arrested all the time) is able to get paid millions to catch a ball? If there is to be outrage over how much an individual gets paid, the same outrage should be applied across the board.

This is the same sort of disparity we see towards women. It is okay to insult Sarah Palin - don't deny that you have seen and heard and maybe laughed at the jokes towards her. But, don't you dare say anything against the ridiculousness of the Sandra Fluke incident (Yes, it was outrageous, and Rush likely over did it. And I did laugh. But, I also laughed at the SNL skits for Palin). The same disparity we have with religion (insult Christians all day, but don't say a thing about a Muslim). The same disparity we have towards race (joke about Asians and Indians (from India), but be careful with what you say about African Americans).

If we are going to have standards, they need to be applied towards all groups. Else, we should not have any standards and let anything and everything be allowed. But where do you stand? Are you an equal offender of all people? Or do you pick and chose when to show indignation?

For reference of CEO vs Superstar pay, take a look at the list I pilfed from Red State.

For comparison, here are the latest available annual compensation numbers for the CEOs of XOM’s competition: 

Jim Mulva,                 ConocoPhillips,         $27,713,594
John Watson,             Chevron,                    $25,000,000
Peter Voser,               Royal Dutch/Shell,    €5,208,000 = $6,800,000
Robert W. Dudley,      BP,                             $3,404,300

Actors                     Earnings (Millions) 

Leonardo DiCaprio     $77
Johnny Depp             $50
Adam Sandler             $40
Angelina Jolie             $30
Sarah Jessica Parker    $30
Jennifer Aniston          $28

American Athletes     Earnings ($Millions) 

Tiger Woods               $62.3
Phil Mickelson             $61.2
LeBron James             $44.5 

International Athletes Earnings ($Millions) 

Roger Federer                 $52.8
Manny Pacquiao             $52.5
Fernando Alonso            $45.0

Reality “Stars"          Earnings ($Millions) 

Kim Kardashian         $6
Lauren Conrad           $5