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[Amused_To_Death]

From Gamasutra

A comprehensive article on CEO compensation compiled by financial site Forbes.com has calculated and compared performance and pay for the CEOs of America's 500 biggest companies, as measured by a composite ranking of sales, profits, assets and market value. In the process, it has revealed that EA CEO Larry Probst took home $12.59 million in total compensation (including non-salary items such as stock) during 2005, and over the past five years has pocketed a healthy $81.76 million.

This puts Probst, who has been with EA for 22 years, and has served as the CEO of the last 15 years, as the #114 highest paid executive on the list of 500. Interestingly, Probst ranks particularly highly on the calculation of performance vs. pay, coming out as #30 of the 189 CEOs able to be ranked that way, thanks to EA's 6-year annual total return to shareholders of 23%, over 20 percent better than the industry as a whole.

According to Forbes: "The average paycheck for last year for each boss works out to $10.9 million. For the group of 500 as a whole, aggregate stock gains accounted for 51% of total compensation, versus 53% a year ago. The average boss realized $5.6 million from exercising options last year."

Overall, the survey indicates that individuals serving as the chief executives within America's top 500 companies were paid $5.4 billion in 2005, and were awarded a collective 6 percent pay increase, down from an astonishing 54 percent increase the previous year. Since many of the major game companies in the U.S. are either not large enough to figure in the top 500 companies, or are headquartered outside the U.S., no further game-related CEOs featured on the survey.

 

[Fuzzy]

With the way EA makes money, he deserves it.

 

[Rhindle]

Well deserved.

Anyone who can build a $17 billion company without ever having to bother making a decent product is a farking genius.

 

[7Th]

Well deserved.

Anyone who can build a $17 billion company without ever having to bother making a decent product is a farking genius.

:lol

 

[GDJustin]

Given the sheer size of the EA empire, and how rapidly its grown this generation, I would say the compensation is well deserved.

 

[Stinkles]

Yeah, compare it to that Exxon fuck - 117k per DAY for simply agreeing with OPEC and other US refiners to limit production. Makes EA Trax and Catwoman seem like Mother Theresa making blind kids see again.

 

[Ranger X]

With the way EA makes money, he deserves it.

Whoever you are, spending 81 million dollar of useless shit in one year = you have a god damned problem.

 

[GreggTheGrimReaper]

Well deserved.

Anyone who can build a $17 billion company without ever having to bother making a decent product is a farking genius.

QFT-

 

[stonedwal]

Well deserved.

Anyone who can build a $17 billion company without ever having to bother making a decent product is a farking genius.

I'd probably let you get away with it if you specified that EA hasn't made a decent product since Probst took over from Trip Hawkins, but even that's hard to justify.

 

[mj1108]

Well deserved.

Anyone who can build a $17 billion company without ever having to bother making a decent product is a farking genius.

QFT.

 

[fartblast]

Yeah, compare it to that Exxon fuck - 117k per DAY for simply agreeing with OPEC and other US refiners to limit production. Makes EA Trax and Catwoman seem like Mother Theresa making blind kids see again.

lol

 

[6.8]

Shame it's not on the Rev.

 

[SyNapSe]

With the way EA makes money, he deserves it.

It's still a ton of cash to us normal people, but clearly EA has become a monster of a company within the games industry. Errr, at least in the west/europe.. does EA have much of a presence in the Japan/Asia region? I wouldnt' think so judging by their product catalog.

 

[Amused_To_Death]

Given the sheer size of the EA empire, and how rapidly its grown this generation, I would say the compensation is well deserved.

That's true from a financial point, but about the other aspects of running his company? The "over-working" of his employees without appropriate compensation? The way he's tarnished some of EA's most prized franchises? Recent layoffs when titles didn't perform because of EA's management push to put out yearly sequels? If you're an EA shareholder, I'm sure you're happy to have someone like Larry Probst running the company, but what about everyone else, employees, their families, the rest of the industry (exclusive licensing deals, premium pricing, etc...)

BTW, I don't have a problem with how much he makes a year, it's obvious it's related to his company's financial performance and he certainly deserves it.

 

[GDJustin]

That's true from a financial point, but about the other aspects of running his company? The "over-working" of his employees without appropriate compensation? The way he's tarnished some of EA's most prized franchises? Recent layoffs when titles didn't perform because of EA's management push to put out yearly sequels? If you're an EA shareholder, I'm sure you're happy to have someone like Larry Probst running the company, but what about everyone else, employees, their families, the rest of the industry (exclusive licensing deals, premium pricing, etc...)

BTW, I don't have a problem with how much he makes a year, it's obvious it's related to his company's financial performance and he certainly deserves it.

CEOs serve shareholders, period.

 

[MrToughPants]

Best hockey game ever.

 

[BuzzJive]

Yet they fired what - 500 people this year. WAY TO GO.