Apple's Steve Jobs and Google's Eric Schmidt are just two of the CEOs who work for a buck. Why do top executives give up their salaries?Richard Kinder, chief executive of Houston energy transportation and storage company Kinder Morgan is not a poor man. But since he founded the company with Bill Morgan in 1997, he has drawn a salary of $1 and left his cabinet clear of any bonuses, stock awards, or option grants. He doesn't use a corporate jet or chauffeured cars. He even cuts a personal check for his contribution to the health insurance plan.
To be sure, he lives more than comfortably off the dividends from his approximately 24 million shares in Kinder Morgan (KMI); annual payouts from his shares top $60 million. The value of the shares has also risen steadily in the last decade, closing on May 9 at $106.95. "I'm not saying I'll need to get on the welfare line," says Kinder. "But all my pay comes from the performance of the company. I'm opposed to guaranteed salary, stock, options, and the rest of it. The philosophy is that senior management does well when the company does well."
An Exclusive Club
Read More
