HTC Execs Take Massive Pay Cut After Disappointing 2012, Because That's How It Should Work
In its annual report, HTC revealed an interesting factoid: Its high-level executives took a huge pay cut, to the tune of about 51%, after disappointing performance in 2012.
Indeed, 2012 was a rough one for HTC, as the company saw a declining market share and low earnings after a good 2011; according to the WSJ, the company has lost around 80% of its value since its zenith two years ago.
HTC CEO Peter Chou
The HTC One (review here), released in 2013, shows promise, but the HTC First (the first “Facebook Phone”, review here) does not, so this year has started out a bit uneven.
HTC First
Accordingly, HTC’s top execs took a massive pay cut. The company paid its highest-level executives a combined total of NT$1.36 billion in 2011, and in 2012 the pay was just NT$660.5 million. CEO Peter Chou’s paycheck dropped below $100 million, as president of engineering and operations Fred Liu’s.
HTC One
The report does not indicate from whence the decision came to make the cuts, but it’s refreshing to see a company’s top brass personally absorbing the loss financially instead of laying off workers lower on the food chain. At a time when the next generation of workers believes they’re entitled to promotions and raises just because they show up and C-level executives often make too much money and accept too little of the blame when things go wrong, HTC is sending a company-wide message that the effort and execution in 2012 wasn’t good enough. The job of righting the ship starts with the captains.
Indeed, 2012 was a rough one for HTC, as the company saw a declining market share and low earnings after a good 2011; according to the WSJ, the company has lost around 80% of its value since its zenith two years ago.
HTC CEO Peter Chou
The HTC One (review here), released in 2013, shows promise, but the HTC First (the first “Facebook Phone”, review here) does not, so this year has started out a bit uneven.
HTC First
Accordingly, HTC’s top execs took a massive pay cut. The company paid its highest-level executives a combined total of NT$1.36 billion in 2011, and in 2012 the pay was just NT$660.5 million. CEO Peter Chou’s paycheck dropped below $100 million, as president of engineering and operations Fred Liu’s.
HTC One
The report does not indicate from whence the decision came to make the cuts, but it’s refreshing to see a company’s top brass personally absorbing the loss financially instead of laying off workers lower on the food chain. At a time when the next generation of workers believes they’re entitled to promotions and raises just because they show up and C-level executives often make too much money and accept too little of the blame when things go wrong, HTC is sending a company-wide message that the effort and execution in 2012 wasn’t good enough. The job of righting the ship starts with the captains.
