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Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

bbc.com

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Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#171

Post by 5350-uiop-1130 »

rglullis wrote: post #59
beckman466 wrote: post #46

So according to this 2018 article by The Verge [1], Foxconn workers producing iGadgets in China earn on average $390.16 per month. Times that by twelve and we find that workers earn $4,681.92 per year on average. If we divide Tim's $750,000,000 bonus/payout this year by that $4,681.92 yearly Foxconn salary, we get 160,190 My question is: how is Tim so productive that he does roughly 160,000 people’s work, or 1/8th of…

When will we learn to stop making these silly calculations about "productivity" and understand that people are paid not by the value of their work, but by their scarcity? Any factory in China can replace most of their 160k employees overnight if they wanted to. How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

It's the brutal reality. But the argument is a moral and ethical one - not the subjective value of an individual's contribution.

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#172

Post by rglullis »

crispyambulance wrote: post #144
rglullis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When will we learn to stop making these silly calculations about "productivity" and understand that people are paid not by the value of their work, but by their scarcity? Any factory in China can replace most of their 160k employees overnight if they wanted to. How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

> How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around? I think that's also silly calculation. Beyond a certain (admittedly unknowable) point, compensation becomes a meaningless number for the individual. Would Tim Cook "rage-quit" Apple if they could only pay him, say, 75 million instead of 750 million? If yes, then it's pure greed. If no, then it's too much. Is there something substantive behind that 750 million figure oth…

> Is there something substantive behind that 750 million figure other than very powerful people just paying themselves as much as they can get away with? I think not.

If you are already rich enough to retire many times over, why should you keep working on something that doesn't move the scale of your money (and consequently power and ability to do other things, including starting a new business that could disrupt your previous business?)

Think of it this way: a lot of the money that is being paid to Tim Cook is to ensure that he doesn't go to work somewhere else.

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#173

Post by tolmasky »

rglullis wrote: post #59
beckman466 wrote: post #46

So according to this 2018 article by The Verge [1], Foxconn workers producing iGadgets in China earn on average $390.16 per month. Times that by twelve and we find that workers earn $4,681.92 per year on average. If we divide Tim's $750,000,000 bonus/payout this year by that $4,681.92 yearly Foxconn salary, we get 160,190 My question is: how is Tim so productive that he does roughly 160,000 people’s work, or 1/8th of…

When will we learn to stop making these silly calculations about "productivity" and understand that people are paid not by the value of their work, but by their scarcity? Any factory in China can replace most of their 160k employees overnight if they wanted to. How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

> How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

I’d say it would be just about impossible to find anyone else capable giving such a wooden performance and unnatural fake excitement at product announcements. Perhaps a young Point Break-era Keanu? But even then, I’d actually believe when he says “whoa” as a new product is unveiled. So you’re right, irreplaceable.

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#174

Post by rglullis »

tclancy wrote: post #157
rglullis wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we were to live in a world where we are measured by our productivity, we would ALL be treated like the replaceable cogs from the Chinese factory.

If that’s frightening to you, I think you’re seeing the point.

Isn't that frightening to you? What makes you think you would not be living under the whip?

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#175

Post by dudul »

beckman466 wrote: post #46

So according to this 2018 article by The Verge [1], Foxconn workers producing iGadgets in China earn on average $390.16 per month. Times that by twelve and we find that workers earn $4,681.92 per year on average. If we divide Tim's $750,000,000 bonus/payout this year by that $4,681.92 yearly Foxconn salary, we get 160,190 My question is: how is Tim so productive that he does roughly 160,000 people’s work, or 1/8th of…

Compensation is a function of how difficult it is to find/replace a worker, not their productivity.

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#177

Post by oneplane »

ahtihn wrote: post #107
rglullis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When will we learn to stop making these silly calculations about "productivity" and understand that people are paid not by the value of their work, but by their scarcity? Any factory in China can replace most of their 160k employees overnight if they wanted to. How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

> How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around Probably thousands? Just put a job ad for "Apple CEO" out there, set pay at a generous 10 million/year and I'm pretty sure you won't have issues finding qualified candidates. I really don't think Apple's valuation would change much if Tim Cook is replaced, so I don't see what justifies such a large bonus.

At that level there is no such thing as 'qualified candidates' like in a generic job where you just fill your positions.

There is no justification needed (in the traditional sense), but there was one anyway: board set a goal, Tim had to meet that goal, and then they'd give him the money.

Say Apple made a couple hundred billions under Tim Cook's leadership and the way was paved for more of that in the coming years (keep in mind that there is no day-to-day, this really is many-year-planning; you practically have to predict the future to some extent), is a fraction of that really such an odd case to pay the person that did that?

Sure, you don't need that much money to live comfortably forever, but this is capitalism, I doubt the value created was needed either. But the board and Tim agreed and met their goal and thus the transaction was completed.

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#178

Post by uuddlrlr »

mirthflat83 wrote: post #160
ahtihn wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around Probably thousands? Just put a job ad for "Apple CEO" out there, set pay at a generous 10 million/year and I'm pretty sure you won't have issues finding qualified candidates. I really don't think Apple's valuation would change much if Tim Cook is replaced, so I don't see what justifies such a large bonus.

> Probably thousands? Lmfao. Hacker News, never change.

Certainly thousands of people could achieve similar or better, finding one of them just happens to be incredibly difficult and risky.

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#179

Post by bluedino »

ahtihn wrote: post #107
rglullis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When will we learn to stop making these silly calculations about "productivity" and understand that people are paid not by the value of their work, but by their scarcity? Any factory in China can replace most of their 160k employees overnight if they wanted to. How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

> How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around Probably thousands? Just put a job ad for "Apple CEO" out there, set pay at a generous 10 million/year and I'm pretty sure you won't have issues finding qualified candidates. I really don't think Apple's valuation would change much if Tim Cook is replaced, so I don't see what justifies such a large bonus.

Introducing the new CEO of Apple, Carly Fiorna!

Re: Apple chief executive Tim Cook gets $750m payout

#180

Post by II2II »

rglullis wrote: post #59
beckman466 wrote: post #46

So according to this 2018 article by The Verge [1], Foxconn workers producing iGadgets in China earn on average $390.16 per month. Times that by twelve and we find that workers earn $4,681.92 per year on average. If we divide Tim's $750,000,000 bonus/payout this year by that $4,681.92 yearly Foxconn salary, we get 160,190 My question is: how is Tim so productive that he does roughly 160,000 people’s work, or 1/8th of…

When will we learn to stop making these silly calculations about "productivity" and understand that people are paid not by the value of their work, but by their scarcity? Any factory in China can replace most of their 160k employees overnight if they wanted to. How many Tim Cook's do you have lying around?

While it would be difficult to replace someone like Tim Cook, this should not serve as an excuse to treat people as disposable. This attitude of disposability, which is exactly what your comment about replacing 160k employees implies, brings to mind barbaric labour practices of the past.
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