Moonves Takes Most Overpaid CEO Honors...

A just-concluded Bloomberg survey has examined the compensation of 271 chief executive officers and results ranged from a high of $43.2 million for CBS Corporations' Les Moonves to $245,322 for Google Inc.'s Eric Schmidt. So why the enormous discrepancy? Well for one thing, salary expert Graef Crystal, who conducted the survey concluded that pay for performance is a fiction. Crystal's study was devised amid rising concern that executive pay is too high and calls from the president and others that CEO's should suffer when companies mess up. A couple of us feel CEO's should not reward themselves anyway. Like a mad accountant and using formulas he developed along with the ancient Greeks, Crystal, 73, crunched the numbers to see whether these astronomical salaries are "commensurate with ability." Crystal tossed in shareholder returns to determine whether that may have led to higher pay. Crystal reached his conclusion by stating, "Simply put, companies don't pay for performance." ...

So what should Moonves compensation be? Moonves would take a $28 million pay cut under a model that Crystal developed. Schmidt, the most underpaid CEO should get more than a $17 million raise. Crystal's model reapportioned pay according to a formula based two-thirds on shareholder return and one-third on company size, measured by its sales. Crystal found that 159 of the 271 CEOS would get raises if the total CEO payroll last year were redistributed according to his formula. Based on that, 112 CEO's are just plain greedy...

It doesn't take any kind of study or formula to realize that when times are bad, corporate heads should not reward themselves with grotesquely staggering numbers as compensation, especially now when everyone from the president on down is watching. Make that - anytime...

Timeline Memories...

1.1872] I am woman hear me roar: Victoria Woodhull becomes the 1st woman nominated for the U.S. presidency (Sorry Hillary)...
2.1908] Put them all together they spell Mother: The 1st Mother's Day observance takes place during church services in Grafton (WV) and Philadelphia...

3.1924] Chief Cheech: J. Edgar Hoover is appointed head of the FBI, a job he will hold until his death in 1972...
4.1927] In Stereo?: The Hotel Statler in Boston becomes the 1st hotel to install headsets in each of its 1,300 rooms. And what exactly did they listen to, Morse Code???
5.1965] Yaz and the Mick: The Red Sox beat the Yankees 3-2. All the runs are supplied by Carl Yastrzemski and Mickey Mantle...
6.1969] Wedding Bells: The merger of the AFL and NFL becomes official with Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Baltimore agreeing to move to the AFL. The AFC and NFC are formed with two-13 team conferences...1986] Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear rock down the aisle. They will divorce in 1993...
7.1970] Faster than a speeding bullet: In one of the greatest sports moments captured on video and in print, Boston Bruins superstar Bobby (#4) Orr flies through the air after taking a pass from Derek Sanderson and putting the puck in the St. Louis net for the winning OT goal that produces an NHL championship for the Bruins...
8.1974] NBA Champs: Led by the great Dr. J aka Julius Erving, the Nets win the 1st of their 2 NBA titles by defeating Utah. Erving puts up 20 points and grabs 16 boards...
9.1982] Musicradio is no more: At exactly 12 noon Musicradio 77 becomes Talkradio 77. After Dan Ingram joined Ron Lundy for the final Musicradio show, the WABC chime was used for the last time at 11:59:55 a.m. WABC switched to top 40 in December of 1960 and for 22 years dominated ratings in New York. This was the final jock lineup on this date in 1982: 5-9 a.m. Ross and Wilson, 9-11:59:55 a.m. Ron Lundy and Dan Ingram. Jay Clark was Operations Manager...
10.1997] Happy Trails: The state of Illinois executes convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy, 52, for the murders of 33 young men and boys...

Music Memories:

•1954] Released on this date: "Rock Around The Clock" is released as a single commercially (promo copies went out May 6). The 1st time around Bill Haley & the Comets do not have a hit, charting only for 1 week. One year later after "Blackboard Jungle" premieres, the song will top the charts in July of 1955...
•1964] Debuted on this date: Dusty Springfield makes her U.S. television debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show". This clip is from 1965..
•1969] At the White House: The Turtles perform at the White House and Mark Volman celebrates by falling off the stage 4 times. Reportedly they then proceeded to smoke weed in the Lincoln bedroom. This clip is not from that performance...
•1974] Recorded on this date: Eric Clapton records "I Shot The Sheriff" which will top the charts...
•1985] Breaking up is hard to do: The Go-Go's announce their breakup...

Commentary:

Lena Horne, who broke racial barriers as Hollywood's first black leading lady, passed away last night in New York at 92. Horne took her singing talent to Hollywood and starred in movies for four decades. In 1981 she received a special Tony Award for "Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music". Lena Horne was a one-of-a-kind entertainer who will always be remembered for her signature song, "Stormy Weather"...

"Happy Birthday...happy birthday":

Bono aka Paul Hewson (50), Chris "Boomer" Berman (55), Donovan Leitch (64) Dave Mason (64), CT basketball coach Jim Calhoun (68), Jim Hickman (73), Gary Owens (74) and Pat Summerall (80)...

Timeline Countdown: 21 days until Memorial Day, 41 days until Father's Day & 42 days until summer...