There are a lot of people who look at the money professional athletes make and immediately believe they are grossly over paid. How can anyone be worth $25 million a year just because they can dunk a basketball, throw a pass or hit a baseball better than most everyone else? On the face of it, how can you answer that they are worth the money? But if you compare them to other people making similar incomes, their compensation isn’t that outrageous.
Let’s first compare athletes to people in other entertainment industries. Alex Rodriquez was the highest paid baseball player in 2008, with a $28 million dollar salary. Compare this to someone like Madonna, who made a reported $40 million income in 2008. Tiger Woods, who is one of the biggest earners in the world of sports, makes nothing compared to media personalities like Oprah and Martha Stewart. Last year, Woods made over $112 million, mostly through advertising. Only $11 million was made through salary.
How does the top business executives around the country's compensation compare to the top athletes? Just like the athletes, their results are mixed as well. Robert J. Stevens, the CEO of Lockheed Martin, made almost $26 million in 2008. This ranks him with Kevin Garnett and Ben Roethlisberger, who are the top NBA and NFL paid athletes. Garnett’s Celtics won the NBA championship, Roethlisberger’s Steelers won the Super Bowl, and Lockheed Martin had $3 billion in net income. On the other hand, there are the two CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who both earned over $14 million while their companies averaged $2.5 billion losses for the year. Maybe they should learn to hit a curve ball?
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