General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt '78 earned roughly $17.86 million in 2006. The company disclosed the figure in accordance with new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules that require companies to disclose executive salaries as a total figure, as opposed to merely the base salary. Immelt's salary includes a $3.3 million base salary, $7.4 million in stock awards, a $5 million bonus for meeting performance goals, and $574,322 in option awards. Depending on the company's performance next year, however, Immelt could be paid an extra million dollars in addition to his regular bonus. His pay also included allowances for private airplane use and benefits such as financial counseling, tax preparation and a car lease.
A recent study may help explain why so many Dartmouth students complain about relationships. The report, "Generation Me: Why Today's Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled -- and More Miserable Than Ever Before," found that two-thirds of college students today are narcissistic. According to the Associated Press, researchers compiled 16,475 student responses, gathered between 1982 and 2006, to the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. (The NPI includes statements such as, "If I ruled the world, it would be a better place.") The study's lead author, professor Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, said that narcissists tend to lack empathy, are keen on self-promotion and do not take criticism well. The study also found that narcissists "are more likely to have romantic relationships that are short-lived, at risk for infidelity, lack emotional warmth, and to exhibit game-playing, dishonesty and over-controlling and violent behaviors." The study blamed the rise in part on the self-esteem movement of the 1980s and new technologies, such as MySpace and YouTube, that are believed to breed self-centered and attention-seeking behavior.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, recently turned down a $1 billion buyout offer from Yahoo. Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook in 2004 as a Harvard University sophomore, has turned down previous offers to buy the website. The company is currently the internet's second largest social networking website, after MySpace. Yahoo and other established companies view Facebook as especially attractive because companies believe social networking websites draw people away from television, newspapers and other traditional media advertising outlets. But there is little reason for Zuckerberg to sell now, as the company is expected to earn $100 million in revenues this year. If Facebook reaches its financial goals for this year, it would stand to garner a sales price well above $1 billion or could have a public offering similar to those of Google. Yahoo, eBay or Amazon.com.
