That's Some Pay Cap, Bill

Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

The people who make a living designing those super-rich pay packages for top executives are having a hearty laugh these days at Washington's expense.

By imposing a $1 million cap last year on the amount of executive pay that is deductible, President Clinton and Congress had hoped to put the brakes on excessive compensation. The law, however, is having some unintended consequences--to say the least. "President Clinton has created a minimum wage for CEOs," declares Arnold S. Ross, a New York consultant who designs pay packages for executives. "A $1 million base salary is now the gold standard."