By Saswat Pattanayak
Wall Street has been occupied by those representing the 99%. But what about the top 1%? How do they fare? They might be throwing cakes at the hungry masses down below, but how do they share their pies? They might be unleashing atrocities upon the huge majority of people through criminal manipulations, but how fairly do they treat each other?
A look at their annual salaries points to crucial factors of inequality and biases within the top 1% themselves. The masculine, patriarchal and sexist nature of corporate greed duly relegates its women accomplices to the inferior salary brackets. No matter if the women are in the same ranks of CEOs or Presidents, they are just paid way less. In fact, the highest paid woman Safra A. Catz (President, Oracle Corp.) earns less than any of the first 12 highest paid men! And the second highest paid woman Wellington J. Denahan-Norris (COO, Annaly Capital Management) earns less than any of the top 25 highest paid male executives.
The cumulative total earning for the first 9 months of last year was $381,105,205 for the highest paid male executives, while the cumulative total earning for the highest paid female executives for the said period was $118,233,692.
When such disparities in pay across genders have been normalized within the top echelon, it is no wonder the financial bosses of the Wall Street do not think twice about the increasing class society afflicting America today.
Here, then, is the breakdown (first 9-month period, 2010) –
Top 5 Men
Philippe P. Dauman President and Chief Executive Officer Viacom, Inc. (VIAB) 2010 Total Compensation: $84,469,515
Mark V. Hurd President Oracle Corp. (ORCL) 2010 Total Compensation: $78,362,540
Lawrence J. Ellison Chief Executive Officer Oracle Corp. (ORCL) 2010 Total Compensation: $77,556,015
Ray R. Irani Executive Chairman Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) 2010 Total Compensation: $76,107,010
Thomas E. Dooley Chief Operating Officer Viacom, Inc. (VIAB) 2010 Total Compensation: $64,610,125
Top 5 Women
1. Safra A. Catz President and Chief Financial Officer Oracle Corp. (ORCL) 2010 Total Compensation: $42,095,887
2. Wellington J. Denahan-Norris Vice Chairman, Chief Investment Officer and Chief Operating Officer Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NLY) 2010 Total Compensation: $23,634,800
3. Carol Meyrowitz Chief Executive Officer TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX) 2010 Total Compensation: $19,252,740
4. Susan M. Ivey Former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI) 2010 Total Compensation: $16,823,900
5. Marina Armstrong Senior Vice President and General Manager Gymboree Corp. (GYMB) 2010 Total Compensation: $16,426,365
Sources: Equilar