The late President Reagan articulated the hope that “people on Wall Street would pay attention to people on Main Street.” This optative was sage when uttered, and remains so even after so many years have passed.
And nowhere is this truer than in the area of executive compensation, where Wall Street is learning—sometimes painfully—to understand the views and perceptions of Main Street. According to CFO Magazine, a record 322 shareholder proposals sought to rein in executive pay last year. The chasm between Wall Street’s perception of what constitutes fair compensation and Main Street’s contrary view is enormous. Yet, ...