Celebrating Labor

... and the wages attached to same.

... Rupert Murdoch's overall compensation declined slightly in fiscal 2013, to $28.9 million.

During the previous year, Murdoch had a $30-million compensation package. That was nearly 10% lower than his fiscal 2011 earnings of $33.3 million.

Despite the dip, Murdoch's annual base salary remains the highest in the industry, at $8.1 million. During the past year, Murdoch's bonus was divvied up into two categories: stock awards, which were valued at $5.1 million, and a performance-based cash bonus of $12.5 million. ...

Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey's overall compensation swelled to $27 million for fiscal 2013, a 9% boost. ... Murdoch's youngest son, James Murdoch, who is the media company's third-ranking officer, collected a package valued at $17 million. ...

Corporate profits are up even as corporate revenues are down, so why not a big pay day? The older print media units have been spun off into a company now known as News Corp., and the good stuff -- cable networks, broadcast network, film studio -- has been filed under "21st [21st] Century Fox."

(Few know or remember that "20th Century Fox" was once "20th Century-Fox" -- a mashup of Darryl Zanuck's very profitable independent film studio 20th Century and William Fox's large and floundering Fox Film Corporation.Even fewer remember that William Fox was poised to take over a large chunk of the American film business before the Wall Street crash of 1929 did in his ambitions plans.

Greedy overreaching is one of the hallmarks of humankind.)