2 CEOs - Lenovo Thumbs Up, Caterpillar Thumbs Down

Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing has decided to use a $3 million bonus he received for the company's record-setting year to reward thousands of the company's rank-and-file employees. The 47-year-old gave around 10,000 employees worldwide bonus checks for their hard work, Lenovo spokesman Jeffrey Shafer said.

The computer company announced its fourth quarter earnings in May. 


According to a press release, net profit for the company rose 73 percent year over year. The brand’s global PC sales rose by 35 percent year over year. 


The employees, who worked in different areas of the company — from manufacturing to administration to other nonmanagement positions, each received around $300 as a part of Yuanqing's generosity. "We ended the year as the number two PC maker," Shafer said. "Yuanqing felt that he was rewarded well simply as the owner of the company."

According to Shafer, Yuanqing owns about 8 percent of the company. Shafer said the CEO felt like it was the right thing to do to "redirect [the money] to the employees as a real tangible gesture for what they done."

Back in June, ThinkProgress noted that the manufacturing giant Caterpillar was seeking major concessions during contract negotiations with striking workers, even as it was making billions in profits and giving its CEO a 60 percent pay boost.

The New York Times' Steven Greenhouse added more details today, noting that the company wants to implement a six-year pay freeze and a pension freeze, at a time when it is making record profits. Caterpillar, which has significantly raised its executives' compensation because of its strong profits, defended its demands, saying many unionized workers were paid well above market rates.

:A company that earned a record $4.9 billion in 2011 and $1.586 billion in the first quarter of this year should be willing to help the workers who made those profits for them," said Timothy O'Brien, president of Machinists Local Lodge 851. "Caterpillar believes in helping the very rich, but what they’re doing would help eliminate the middle class." Several labor experts told the Times that Caterpillar is a pioneer in tough labor negotiations meant to drive down workers' wages.

Last year, Caterpillar's CEO made nearly $17 million in total compensation. At the moment in the U.S., the typical worker would have to work 244 years in order to earn what the average CEO makes in one year.

Sources: ABC News and Think Progress