The 10 Greediest People of 2008

By Sam Pizzigati, Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality. Posted December 23, 2008.

In 2007, Roberts, now 88, actually pocketed $24.7 million in total compensation. His son, current Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, collected $20.8 million.

Some shareholders, in early 2008, took a bit of umbrage to all this largesse. Some even began demanding Brian's resignation. In February, under fire, the Roberts clan backed down. They agreed to ax Ralph's death benefit and drop his annual salary to $1 a year. But Comcast will continue to pay Ralph's various benefits, including his life insurance. In 2006, the premiums ran $10.5 million.

Meanwhile, in November, news reports revealed that federal and state cable TV regulators fear that Comcast, amid the consumer confusion over the transition to all-digital over-the-air broadcasts, is pushing low-income cable TV subscribers into more expensive monthly cable packages.

5: Steve Jobs

In 2008, once again, the most notable executive in America's $1-a-year CEO club remained Steve Jobs, the chief exec at Apple Computer. Jobs has been collecting a mere $1 in annual salary ever since 1997. He has, to be sure, been collecting a few other rewards as well. He entered 2008 with about 5.5 million shares of Apple stock and a net worth not too far south of $6 billion.

This past March, to gain some input into any future rewards that might come their CEO's way, Apple shareholders passed a resolution that gives them an advisory "Say on Pay" vote on executive compensation. Joked Jobs in response: "I hope 'Say on Pay' will help me with my $1 a year salary."

Apple corporate directors aren't waiting for any shareholder help. In the company's 2008 proxy statement, they noted that they're already "considering additional compensation arrangements" for Jobs, given the "critical" importance of his "continued leadership."

Jobs himself told shareholders at this year's Apple annual meeting that he "feels confident" that any number of the company's top execs "could take his place." Even so, he's probably eager to see what sort of "additional compensation" Apple's imaginative board might have in mind.

In 1999, the board gave Jobs a $90 million Gulfstream V jet -- and agreed to pay Jobs for the cost of operating it. In 2007, that cost came to $776,000.

4: Robert Stevens

Peace on earth and good will toward everybody. But not too soon. That may be the motto this holiday season for Lockheed Martin, the world's biggest military contractor. Under CEO Robert Stevens, the company's profit margins have nearly doubled, thanks in no small part to a 72 percent hike in U.S. defense outlays, after inflation, since the year 2000.

And the future looks equally bright, even with the war in Iraq winding down. Lockheed Martin, the 57-year-old Stevens noted last month, sees nothing but "continuous expansion" in its military hardware sales overseas. These sales can deliver sky-high returns, industry analysts point out, because U.S. taxpayers have already footed the bill for the hardware's R&D.

Still, Stevens isn't putting all his eggs in one basket. Lockheed Martin, he said last week, remains totally "unconstrained" by the credit crisis and is now investigating making corporate acquisitions in other fields -- like health care.

The CEO's personal financial health remains quite robust. Stevens pulled in $26 million last year. The most highly decorated general in the U.S. armed services would have to work over 130 years to make that much.

See more stories tagged with: economy, ceos, hedge funds, golden parachutes, madoff, thain

Sam Pizzigati is the editor of the online weekly Too Much, and an associate fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.

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