Redmond Cuts Executive Pay
    
		To those of you out there who have taken pay cuts recently (or been laid  off by Microsoft), rest assured that the big wigs in Redmond are suffering right along with you.  Steve Ballmer's salary cratered from $1.35 million to $1.28 million  year-over-fiscal-year,  and other Microsoft execs took pay cuts, as well. (Of course, compared to what  the real losers on Wall Street have made over the years while helping wreck our  economy, Ballmer's base compensation doesn't seem that outrageous.)
We've been wondering something lately, though. Remember a couple of  years ago, when the economy was still swimming along, how there were calls for  Ballmer to step down as Microsoft CEO? Where have those calls gone? Where are  those skeptics now? We're not saying that Ballmer should step down (and we  never have). In fact, with Windows 7, Azure and a major virtualization push, he's  got Microsoft moving in a lot of good directions. 
But did a bad economy absolve  Ballmer of what some perceived to be his sins? Did it serve as a scapegoat and  an out clause for a once-embattled CEO? It sure might have. Discuss or send  your thoughts on this to [email protected].
 
	Posted by Lee Pender on October 01, 2009