When I read these stories I always wonder how one goes over that wall from where people try to talk you down $10k suring salary negotiations to thinking they have to do everything possible to get you to work for them. Even at a lower level than Mayer, I keep reading stories of people, developers even, who get lured to a new position with a salary offer 5x average and yet I don't know any of these people personally. How does this happen?
I know of someone (not a developer, in the ad business) who had a 4x offer, but in his case, he won a very prestigious award.
I guess that perceived scarcity plays a huge role in this. I wish I knew how to manufacture such. (this is of course, in addition to competence, which I take as a given).
In the ad business, having won that award, I get it. Clients can be seduced with "we have this award winning guy". I also get it when people get paid more to take on more responsibility and stress. But with someone like Mayer, the reason she cost so much initially was they had to compete with her Google options. I'm sure she's great but her first big job could just as easily have been with someone other that Google. Had that happened does anyone think Google would not be Google today?
I read an article in the Economist years ago about this phenomenon. Why pay so much more, for example, for the "In a World..." guy to narrate your movie preview when there are dozens of voice actors available. They concluded that since the preview was a minor cost no one would take the chance to cheap out on the voiceover guy because if the movie bombed the guy who cheaped out on the coiceover guy might be blamed.
It's not a reward for performance - she had the huge reward in hand going in. I think now what I thought when she took the job. "If you're going to take the job of Captain of the Titanic AFTER it's hit the iceberg, they better pay you pretty well."
Compensation for executives IS crazy, but her taking the job in the first place was pretty crazy brave, too.
"For me personally, I'm planning to stay," Mayer wrote Monday...
Another headline on Arstechnica: Marissa Mayer "couldn’t be more proud” of achievements at Yahoo"
Marissa seems to me, like one of those persons always living in a dream. Her ship has big holes and heading full speed straight to the cliff, but she still thinks she's a good captain.
