CEO Pay Still a Burning Issue

Not a Ringing Endorsement: Nearly one-third of directors of U.S.-based public companies think that CEOs make too much dough. That’s according to a study by Heidrick & Struggles, a New York-based executive recruiting firm, and the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. That’s a jump from the 25 percent who felt that way in a similar study in 2001. Nine out of 10 believe CEOs should not make more than “two to three times” the salary of other executives in their companies. And in what could hardly be considered an upset, CEOs responding were overwhelmingly at odds with non-CEO board members in their assessment that execs earn disproportionately high salaries. Nearly 52 percent of CEOs believe top pay is “about right except for a few high-profile cases,” undoubtedly referring to golden parachutes awarded to certain CEOs recently. (Can you say “Bob Nardelli”?)