26 Corporations That Paid Their CEOs More Than Uncle Sam
In recent months corporate America has been lobbying the heck out of Washington to lower tax rates on businesses. As it should, defenders say, because corporations have a duty to maximize their return to investors. But if boosting profits were the goal, then you'd think more big companies would stop complaining about taxes, and look instead at an even greater expense: the bloated salaries of their chief executives.
In a just-released report, the Institute for Policy Studies details 26 megacorporations that paid one guy (their CEO) more than they spent on their entire federal tax bills last year. (See our interactive graph below-whoa! Halliburton!) These same companies averaged $1.4 billion in profits-which were announced, in some cases, around the same time they were announcing massive layoffs.
The report also looks at how these companies pull it off. Here, for instance, are the top four executive-pay tax loopholes and their costs to taxpayers.
