Money and Righteousness

[Nelson Boils]

Say you run a company of 10 employees including yourself,and you make 200 bucks per month as profit,and you've paid all expenses except salaries,including yourself.

How would you pay yourself and staff,between 200 bucks?

Would you pay yourself more than you pay your employees?Why?
Would you split the profit amongst you all?Why?

I guess what I'm asking is that, why does the CEO earn more than those at the bottom of the food chain?With the CEO getting more money than his employees,does it mean he is doing a more important job than his employees?Does it mean he works harder than others?Does it mean he is more valuable to a company than his employees?

[Nelson Boils]

If I pay each employee 5 bucks,that means 9employees x 5bucks = 45 bucks,and I haven't paid myself yet.200 profit - 45 bucks = 155 bucks. 

That means 155 bucks comes to me - The CEO!

Is this greed?Is this the way of the world?

[lilitalienboi16]

Generally, it implies he is more valuable because he does a job which is in high demand but whom few people can peform. Hence there is high demand but limited supply so companies pay a lot of money to garner this rare and precious commodity.

The higher the skill requirement for a job, generally, the greater the pay off. Its why doctors are compensated fairly well for what they do (Though the pay for doctors continues to drop while medical school costs continue to increase). It takes a minimum of 12 years after highschool to train a basic primary care doctor and ~250k dollars on the part of the training physician to achieve that goal. This doesn't take into account the cost prior to medical school or the cost and time required post medical school to specialize, say in surgery, urology, oncology, etc.... Plus doctors are in high demand (everyone gets sick) but there are so few of them due to the difficulty of the training, time required, and cost.

Hope you don't mind the medical example, its the field i'm most familiar with.

God bless,
Alex

[Gina]

I think the CEO wouldn't be the CEO if he was horrible with money.  I think the CEO should be wise, not greedy; the CEO is smart enough to start a company, therefore in his wisdom he makes sure there is plenty for a rainy day for his employees.  His employees will thank him for not indulging their fantasies with wads of cash (because if they were wise enough to start their own businesses they wouldn't need to work for someone else).  So, it is good that there are CEO's in the world to provide jobs for the little ones who can't do it themselves.  The little ones will thank you when they see that you saw the storm coming long before they did and made a way through it not just for you but them too.  So, set a good example for your employees and don't over indulge yourself or them.  Don't be a scrooge but don't be careless either, and set money aside for a rainy day.  You will have taught them a lesson in self-control and wisdom.

[octoberose]

Well, don't confuse CEO and owner - they can be two differnt people. For the purposes of this discussion I'd like to address the owner. The owner takes all the risks, takes on all the debt,  owns the intellectual and physical property, and therefore can pay himself anything he /she would like - after payment of all employees, all bills, all taxes, all health care. In a small business no one works harder than the owner and often their hourly salary while trying to establish their business is dismal. 
As for me I would rather work as to the Lord and not worry if someone is getting my perceived share of $200!

[Gina]

Well, don't confuse CEO and owner - they can be two differnt people. For the purposes of this discussion I'd like to address the owner. The owner takes all the risks, takes on all the debt,  owns the intellectual and physical property, and therefore can pay himself anything he /she would like - after payment of all employees, all bills, all taxes, all health care. In a small business no one works harder than the owner and often their hourly salary while trying to establish their business is dismal. 
As for me I would rather work as to the Lord and not worry if someone is getting my perceived share of $200!

Exactly.  It is hard to have your own business with employees.  Companies often get sued by their employees for various reasons but mostly because the employees themselves are greedy for gain, not so much the CEO.


I pulled this off the net to help in the discussion:


Owner

When you're the only person with equity in a business, you're the owner. If you have a partner, you're a co-owner. An investor who gets a percentage of profits, but not necessarily a share of the overall company, is not an owner. Owners often use this title if they are the top person in charge of the business. As the company grows and you add other key executives, you might need to take a more formal title, such as president or CEO. If you started the company, you are also the founder, and can use a dual title of founder and owner.


President

A president often serves as the public face of an organization, especially if there is more than one key executive running the company. When a company has a board of directors, the issue can become confusing. A board chairman might take the title of president if he holds the public spotlight, such as making speeches, writing articles and giving interviews on behalf of the business or nonprofit. If the organization's management executive is the public face of the business, he might take the president title in addition to the CEO title.


CEO

The chief executive officer of a business is the ultimate person in charge of the strategic management of the organization, and oversees all other employees. If the company has a board of directors, the CEO answers to the board, which provides strategic guidance to the business, but not day-to-day management. At nonprofit organizations, the top businessperson often uses the title of executive director instead of CEO. A board chairman might also take the title if he's heavily involved in running the business. If you turn most of the day-to-day management of your company over to a top executive while keeping the strategic management responsibilities for yourself, you might give your key executive the title of chief operating officer.

[lareli]

Don't know what I'd do until I were in this situation..

God willing I'd pay us all $20. Why? Because we're all just children of The Most High doing the best we can and trying to survive, and I'm not in competition with them. I don't want to be better than them. I want us all to 'make it' in this life. Because 'love your neighbor as yourself'.. Because 'think of others as better than yourself'.. And why do I need to have more than them? It's only money and my life is only a vapor. What will it benefit me to have more than anyone else?

If I were to hand them $5 each and then put $155 in my pocket.. Yes to me that would be greed and perhaps self congratulatory.

[Dave in Tenn]

Not enough 'facts' in your question for an answer.

In fact, in my country at least--I would HAVE to pay my employees first--even if it meant I did not pay myself and even if I had to go into debt to get the money to pay them. 

This is assuming there is not some other sort of arrangement like 'commission' or some kind of contractual profit-sharing.  Even in those cases, I would have to pay my employees first.

[Nelson Boils]

Largely,I think your answer is very wise and unselfish.It is kinda like sharing your intellectual property with those that are "under" you.

Dave,I like your answer too - you putting others first before yourself -that is good!I remember I was once in a similar situation as you describe,but the owner was like:"I don't have money,the business is closing!"And yet,he probably got 15 maybe 20 times what we got payed!Eventually,we got some money,but after some infighting and protests.I didn't get involved in the scuffles though,I just sat back and thought "I wonder what would I do if I was our employer,or Jesus?What would be the righteous thing to do from the perspective of the employer."

When I didn't get involved in the scuffles,my fellow workers started asking me:"Nelson,whose side are you on?"