

Another Over Paid Google Exec: $4 Million - UCDeseMuscles
http://www.webguild.org/2008/06/google-new-cfo-starts-job-at-4-million.php

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byrneseyeview
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.

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gojomo
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.

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xlnt
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.

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UCDeseMuscles
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?

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jfarmer
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.

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aasarava
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.

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ojbyrne
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.

