TIM STEINER, CEO OF OCADO
Let me tell you a secret: Western economies aren’t growing. They haven’t for decades (let alone post-Corona); in the UK productivity has flat lined and wages haven’t grown in real terms since the late 1970s. That’s right, in real terms the amount of money going into the pocket of the average worker hasn’t grown for 40 years!
Why does it matter? Well, if the metaphorical cake isn’t getting bigger then the only way someone can get a bigger share is by taking it from others. That’s why we should care when some CEO or other pays themselves a £50m bonus. That money doesn’t come from Theresa May’s “magic money tree,” it’s real money taken out of the pockets of everyone else. The more they take the less you get, it’s as simple as that. Don’t believe anyone who tells you otherwise because they are conning you.
They think they are “worth it” and use “the market” to justify their insane remuneration. In actuality there is no economic basis for CEOs making £10m a year let alone £50m, it is literally impossible for one person to be 500x more productive than their average worker. If their company does well it’s largely a product of luck and circumstances; CEOs are as interchangeable as the rest of us. The best studies on this have shown “superstar” CEOs make no difference to company performance. Their extraordinary value is an ideological construct with no economic foundation.
Scumbag of the week Tim Steiner (CEO of Ocado) thinks he’s worth £54m this year. That’s just his bonus! I can barely imagine the scale of the ego of someone who thinks they are worth this, whilst the average Ocado driver is probably paid £15k a year. To be this twisted by greed and hubris seems hard to comprehend and yet it’s “normal” according to those in power.
£50m a year is nothing to do with economic or societal value, it’s all about power and the ability of those who have it to abuse it. This is a flagrant abuse of power, a legal form of theft. In a system where CEO’s can decide their own pay and bonuses (with the help of sycophantic remuneration committees) the worst amongst them will rob the rest of us blind.
Ocado’s greatest accomplishment this year is the dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time. You are a (legal) thief Tim Steiner, and the only honourable option is to give back the money to the people who need it and deserve it. Your vulnerable customers and frontline staff would be a good start.
Tim Steiner: you are everything that is wrong with capitalist societies. When the history of their demise is written sociopathic blow hards like you will be on the front cover (see below).
Dr Martin James 