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Editorial
July 22, 1933
Event 1 of 2
The Bismarck Tribune
Bismarck, Mandan, Burleigh County, Morton County, North Dakota
What is this article about?
The editorial critiques excessive executive salaries in banks during the Great Depression, citing the Guardian Trust Company of Cleveland's failure, where the president earned $100,000 annually—more than the U.S. President—and executive pay exceeded dividends, questioning competence and widespread overpayment in bankrupt firms.
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Full Text
This is Event 1 of 2. The full text below covers all events in this component.
Overpaid Executives
One of the lessons of the depression seems to have been that some of our brightest executives were very grossly overpaid.
A case in point is furnished by the story of an Ohio bank, the Guardian Trust Company of Cleveland, which took to its bed at the time of the recent bank holiday, plucked fitfully at the covers and then quietly breathed its last.
The Ohio senate is now investigating this bank, and it has found that its president was drawing a salary of around $100,000 a year—which is more than the president of the United States gets. In one year salaries to the bank's leading executives totaled a sum greater than the dividend paid to stockholders.
To earn a salary of $100,000 a year a man has got to be very, very good. When he repays his employers by permitting his firm to drift straight into insolvency, one hardly needs to be unduly critical to suspect that he was being very greatly overpaid.
One wonders just how many firms that went bankrupt in the last few years were supporting big shot executives in a style to which they had no right to become accustomed.
One of the lessons of the depression seems to have been that some of our brightest executives were very grossly overpaid.
A case in point is furnished by the story of an Ohio bank, the Guardian Trust Company of Cleveland, which took to its bed at the time of the recent bank holiday, plucked fitfully at the covers and then quietly breathed its last.
The Ohio senate is now investigating this bank, and it has found that its president was drawing a salary of around $100,000 a year—which is more than the president of the United States gets. In one year salaries to the bank's leading executives totaled a sum greater than the dividend paid to stockholders.
To earn a salary of $100,000 a year a man has got to be very, very good. When he repays his employers by permitting his firm to drift straight into insolvency, one hardly needs to be unduly critical to suspect that he was being very greatly overpaid.
One wonders just how many firms that went bankrupt in the last few years were supporting big shot executives in a style to which they had no right to become accustomed.
What sub-type of article is it?
Economic Policy
What keywords are associated?
Overpaid Executives
Banking Insolvency
Depression Economy
Executive Salaries
Guardian Trust
What entities or persons were involved?
Guardian Trust Company Of Cleveland
Ohio Senate
Bank President
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Critique Of Overpaid Bank Executives
Stance / Tone
Critical Of Excessive Executive Compensation
Key Figures
Guardian Trust Company Of Cleveland
Ohio Senate
Bank President
Key Arguments
Executives Were Grossly Overpaid During The Depression
Bank President Drew $100,000 Salary, More Than U.S. President
Executive Salaries Exceeded Stockholder Dividends
High Salaries Contributed To Bank Insolvency
Many Bankrupt Firms Supported Undeserved Executive Lifestyles