Today’s New York Observer—owned by youthful family-money plutocrat Jared Kushner, son of scandal-plagued real-estate tycoon Charles Kushner and son-in-law of Donald Trump—has a house editorial
defending Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein
from the “critics and cranks” who complained about his $14 million pay at last week’s annual meeting. (I worked at the Observer before and after Kushner bought it from its founder, Arthur Carter.)
“Let’s bear in mind that he could be making a ton more at a hedge fund or at another firm,” the editorial says. Well, why he isn’t doing that? Public-spiritedness? Nope: “He has taken no vow of poverty, nor does he pretend to be running a charitable enterprise.” So he’s just a loser. They must laugh at him, the hedge-fund boys. Even while the ignorant non-rich people envy him his modest successes:
Fake populists and demagogues can rail all they want about Mr. Blankfein’s pay, but their opinions mean nothing. Mr. Blankfein certainly doesn’t need us to defend his salary and his competence. But we’ll take the opportunity to point out that he makes significantly less than a certain third baseman who works in the South Bronx. Despite the catcalls in Jersey City the other day, Mr. Blankfein and Goldman Sachs are having a better spring thus far than Alex Rodriguez, whose annual salary is double Mr. Blankfein’s total compensation package, including his bonus, for last year.
Executive compensation is a private matter. That’s how the free market works.
Alex Rodriguez,
, is on pace to hit 25 home runs, score 98 runs, and collect 103 RBI. Not a record-shattering season, but a very productive one. His Yankees are in first place and are on pace to win 98 games.
Goldman and Blankfein? Not everyone is putting them at the
yet.
