Women CEOs make more than male CEOs: S&P 500 Study

In an article titled Rankings Defy Usual Gender Gap, WSJ on June 1st, 2017 acknowledged (finally!) that female CEOs earn more money than their male counterparts at some of the largest U. S. companies.

“Last year, 21 female CEOs received a median compensation package of $13.8 MM compared with the median $11.6 MM median for 382 male chiefs, according to a WSJ analysis of S&P 500 leaders who held the job a full year.”

“Women in the corner office of the biggest U.S. firms made more money than men in six of the last seven years, through the gap has narrowed since 2014.”

“Three of the 10 highest-paid executives in the overall sample are women, a new high in the Journal study’s 28 -year history They are Meg Whitman at HP Enterprises paid $35.6 MM (pay change from previous year +107.5%, one-year shareholder return +54.5%, Virginia Rommety, IBM $32.7 MM up from $19.8 MM previous year, and Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo.”

These findings were intuitively known to industry analysts, but have been kept from the public until recently. Why ? Because they run against the common gender pay gap myth.

Is women performance that strong ? In some cases performance is at least partially due to headwinds and macro factors independent of their leadership. Who wouldn’t like to get double pay every time the sunshine is out !

Now you know who has been “reaping the rich rewards” all while talking of gender inequality in the workplace.

From the Wall Street Journal:

“Many IBM shareholders consider Ms. Rometty overpaid. About 46% of votes cast at this spring’s annual meeting opposed the firm’s executive pay practices. Directors will review results of the 2017 shareholder votes ‘as they do every year’, an IBM spokesman said”

I know of at least one shareholder that’s not so proud of IBM’s latest performance, Warren Buffet.

Are women doing better than men as CEOs ? That’s hard to say, harder to prove or disprove. What’s loud and clear is the gender victim card is non-existent and women chase and secure the corner office like a hawk kills its prey.

“Women lie about many things, chief amongst their fragility and vulnerability”-Max Cantor maxim

Women in positions of power will be more dominant than men. Why ? Because men become incapacitated by their sense of remorse of authority, while women burn like a torch, destroying everyone that stands in their way.

You may wish to come back to this blog to learn How to Unseat a CEO, or read now about The Most Important Interview Question.