Just because Midway is losing money, employees and any shred of significance in the games industry, don’t think for a second that those at the top of the chain are suffering. Midway is crumbling, but the bank balances of its executives have gotten fatter, something which is now coming under fire.
Just last week, Midway laid off 180 of its workers, and at the same time, its head honchos continue to pull some delicious compensation packages. Former President and CEO David F. Zucker has raked in over $4.5 million for the past two years, and $11 million overall since 2003. Vice president Martin Spiess got $556,834 in 2007, while current CEO Matt Booty sat pretty with $556,834.
The average games industry salary comes to around $50,000.
It’s no secret that top ranking company executives help themselves to fat paychecks, but to reap such obscene amounts of money while everything around you falls apart just reeks of decadence. Roman Empire-scale decadence. If you can’t stop your company from getting as screwed as Midway, you can hardly say you “earned” any of that money.
