A few months ago the Wall Street Journal reported that Merrill Lynch paid over $10 million to each of its top 11 executives last year while the firm was losing billions – they weren’t CEOs, they were deal makers, basically.

This week the Los Angeles Business Journal reported that only a dozen CEOs among the largest companies based in Los Angeles County could claim that same distinction, despite the fact that these people run by and large very successful companies.

Seems to me the executive pay problem may be somewhat narrower than the media would have us believe. Maybe the problem is centered in the northeast US, maybe even a single city; and maybe a single industry in a single city.

Let’s not let our government folks miss the point again (See Did Sarbanes-Oxley miss the point?). Let’s tell them to point their regulatory fingers at the real culprits, not the CEOs who are working hard to make their companies more valuable for their employees and stockholders.

How about your company? Are you comfortable that executive pay is going to the right people for the right reasons? If your policy is Pay for Performance, are you getting the performance you're paying for? Want a second opinion?

As always, I welcome your comments and inquiries.