The mainstream media frequently attack CEOs they see as making too much money, especially as it compares to what their employees make. You have to wonder, then, what the media will make of the situation at the Washington DC Newseum, the museum that honors their profession.
The Associated Press reports that, although there have been four rounds of layoffs since ’08 — including “slashed employee retirement contributions” — and the facility has been “struggling mightily to cover its costs,” the men in charge of the Newseum are raking in huge salaries and retirement benefits:
In his first few months at the Newseum, Duff was paid $1.6 million, including $133,000 in salary, a $50,000 bonus and $1.4 million in deferred compensation for retirement, according to the organization’s 2011 IRS filing. The $1.4 million was a one-time payment. The outgoing Newseum chairman, Charles Overby, was paid $632,193 in 2011, including $390,000 in base salary, $129,000 in other compensation, $92,000 for retirement and other benefits.
As a comparison, the AP points out, the executive compensation at the “much larger Smithsonian” was only $556k in 2011.
The Smithsonian is funded by taxpayers, however, and the Newseum is privately funded. But so are many of the companies the media attack over the amount of money and benefits paid to CEOs.
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