Why Startup CEO or Founders take low Salaries?
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Why some STARTUP CEO/Co-Founders take low salaries - 101 CEO salary DATA.
Some of the Best CEOs Take the Lowest Salaries
For instance, Marc Benioff of Salesforce took a salary of $1 at IPO, Patrick Shiong of Nant Health took no salary, Jack Dorsey at Square took only $3,750, and Jeff Bezos at Amazon took only $64,333. That said, these individuals were independently wealthy before the IPO, but it’s always refreshing to see a CEO pass up a big salary if he/she doesn’t need one.
It sets an example for the rest of the company, establishes a culture of cash efficiency/frugality, and shows a founder putting the company ahead of himself/herself.
Founders taking low salaries also show very well when going to raise money. VC would much rather back a scrappy, frugal founder than one that spends gratuitously and the CEO salary tells you a lot about the CEO’s mantra.
Learnings to Determine a Startup CEO Salary
Keep it as low as possible, expect option grants and bonuses for success, and keep in mind the real source of value is your equity: Benioff, Shiong, Dorsey, and Bezos owned 32%, 57%, 24%, and 48% of their respective companies at the time they went public.
It goes without saying they made a lot more money on their equity than they did on salaries.
Originally posted by Sammy Abdullah, Co-founder of Blossom Street Ventures on Crunchbase.
