Trevor Treharne: Tough at the top for Microsoft executives

Times really are tough Microsoft. According to a CRN online story last week (www.techpartner.news/?92954) the software giant’s chief executive officer, Steve Ballmer, is “underpaid” in the eyes of Microsoft.

The vendor claimed Ballmer’s pay is below the average for similar US executives. In case you were wondering, Ballmer, whose stock in the software giant is valued at about US$11.7 billion, saw his salary and bonus compensation last year jump to US$1.27 million from US$967,000 a year earlier.

This represents a rise of 32 percent during a year when the company began shipping its Vista operating system after long delays, according to Microsoft’s proxy statement which was filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Ballmer, 51, has been a top executive of the company almost since its inception and remains its second-largest shareholder after co-founder Bill Gates.

According to the proxy, Gates himself still owns about US$25.1 billion worth of shares of Microsoft stock, but since he was not one of the highest-paid executives of the company during its 2007 fiscal year the company did not report Gates’ salary.

Following Ballmer on Microsoft’s best-compensated executives list were chief operating officer Kevin Turner, who saw a combined compensation of salary, bonus and stock awards total US$8.45 million, then Kevin Johnson, president of Microsoft’s Platforms and Services Division, with US$7 million coming in the form of compensation.

Where Microsoft gets its “underpaid” label from, I’m not quite sure. “Just not as overpaid as others” would seem a more fitting statement. However this could just be the suggested phrasing of a bitter individual on a journalist’s wage.

Things are not quite so tough for Ballmer’s closest colleague, Gates. The Microsoft chairman has retained his standing at the top of the Forbes Rich List with a personal fortune estimated at US$59bn (www.techpartner.news/?92961).

However, while Gates may still be the richest American, he could soon lose his place as the world’s richest man as Mexican telecommunications owner Carlos Slim Helú now comes within a mere US$500m of his fortune. Helú’s fortune has grown quickly and Forbes admitted that at times he has surpassed the Microsoft chairman. I’m sure that will be a heart-breaking transition for Gates to comprehend.

“Since we released our list six months ago, declaring Bill Gates the world’s richest man, Helú has closed the gap,” said Forbes reporter Matthew Miller.

I wonder how important lists like these are to the world’s fat cats? To the more ego driven – very. With that in mind I’m not going to comment on Gates’ stance.