News Wealthy Nvidia employees are taking it easy in ‘semi-retirement mode' — even middle managers make $1 million a year or more: Report

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Tom Sunday

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Indeed a feeling of being financially very comfortable and unmotivated to work very hard is in fact prevailing everywhere and especially with longer-tenured senior corporate employees. Also called fat cats! Corporate environments and especially those still producing great ‘bottom-lines’ actually foster this kind of behavior. Here at NIKE HQ in Beaverton even our top HR person (Human Capital) is taking home over $1 million annually…all in! The company VP boys in turn remarked: “But he is really not contributing to our 'year-after-year' results with any real measurable impact towards our stock value.” Then in IBM Boston, UnitedHealth Group in Minnetonka, Intel in Hillsboro and Dell in Austin, all are in the same boat! The reality: When you are working for any of these companies in a senior position, with over the top paychecks, medical benefits with 100% dental, enjoying fat year-end bonuses, generous company 401K contributions, company cars, widowed office space, quarterly stock purchase options and a campus style easy working life…one totally looses touch with reality and how it is on the outside. Life is a peach! It’s like living in a gated golf country club community, a special life style, and associating almost exclusively with neighbors of the same socio economic class . All the problems of the world may very well be located on the moon! And as one of our SVP’s so bluntley put it: “We are totally immune to the Ails of the world at large.” Talk about being complacent...80% of our senior executive staff will not even vote next year because their life is good.
 

kjfatl

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Nvidia is in a bubble. At some point, things will fall apart like they did at Intel.
The next few years will be interesting with at least 4 major players dumping R&D dollars into AI hardware and software solutions.
I don't expect Nvidia do go away anytime soon. but I can see Google, Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta all moving away from using Nvidia products within 5 years.
 

bit_user

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Not quite the same and definitely not heralded by the same type of "helm" (or leader), but Intel did this as well, no?
Not sure what you're talking about. Intel's stock hasn't done anything remotely like what's happened with Nvidia's.

The reality: When you are working for any of these companies in a senior position, with over the top paychecks, medical benefits with 100% dental, enjoying fat year-end bonuses, generous company 401K contributions, company cars, widowed office space, quarterly stock purchase options and a campus style easy working life…
Um, if you're taking home $1M in pay & stock, who cares if you get 100% dental? Also, I haven't heard of company cars in ages. Do companies really still do that? And stock purchase plans aren't exactly a big pay day, in my experience. When I've had them, they just let you buy the stock at like a 10% discount. The real windfall is if you get stock options (unless the share price is on a long, downward slide).

one totally looses touch with reality and how it is on the outside. Life is a peach!
I don't have much insight into the lives of C-suite execs, but from my limited window into corporate management, I don't see any sort of walk in the park. They might get disproportionate compensation, but the hours are long, the stress levels are high, and turnover is higher than in the lower ranks.

It’s like living in a gated golf country club community, a special life style, and associating almost exclusively with neighbors of the same socio economic class . All the problems of the world may very well be located on the moon!
That's a different matter.

And as one of our SVP’s so bluntley put it: “We are totally immune to the Ails of the world at large.” Talk about being complacent...80% of our senior executive staff will not even vote next year because their life is good.
Um, what sort of company are you talking about? I can scarcely think of a major company that believes it's "totally immune from the ails of the world at large." That is quite a statement! It seems like just about all of them are potentially affected by supply chain, energy prices, and/or trade restrictions, not to mention outright economic issues like inflation, labor pricing, tax policy, and overall economic growth. If there's a company insulated from all of that, I'd sure like to know about it!

And how do you know 80% of them won't vote? At my company, they're pretty aggressive at trying to get employees to join the PAC (Political Action Committee). They definitely want us to vote, too (though they can't make us do either). I'd be quite surprised if execs were less politically active than the population at large, especially considering how much money I'm sure most contribute in political donations (either via the PAC or personally).
 
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bit_user

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I don't expect Nvidia do go away anytime soon. but I can see Google, Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta all moving away from using Nvidia products within 5 years.
I thought it would've happened, already. I guess the key question is whether Nvidia can continue to invest enough to stay in the lead. As long as they do, then they can keep sales volumes and margins up.

Still... their stock is probably priced beyond perfection. So, you'd think it's got to be nearing a peak that won't be surpassed for a long time. I wouldn't be buying any, right now. Of course, I've said that before and been wrong...
 
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bit_user

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Appeal to greed, the more the stock is worth the more you are :)
That motive breaks down, once the stock enters "fantasy land" pricing, like it currently is. They are no doubt cashing out, because most are probably smart enough to realize that it can't keep going up much more.

Just hope they do not just do things that increase the stock short term.
That's normally a concern for executives, but not when the valuations are this high. Their main worry is probably just not to upset the apple cart and trying to keep the run going a bit longer, until they're fully vested and cashed out.
 

atomicWAR

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Hardly a surprise...they didn't get the nick name Ngreedia for nothing. But I am not so sure that this is to different from many corp's higher ups in management. Fat cats as Tom stated...and that's hardly a new thing. But bit_user makes a good point on work load/turn over rates at that level so while I assume some of this is legit being it is Nvidia, some of it might be misconstrued/misrepresented facts. I'd be curious to know how much of which it is but with it being rumors, we'll likely never know for sure.
 
Not quite the same and definitely not heralded by the same type of "helm" (or leader), but Intel did this as well, no?

Regards.
Intel didn't do this really what Intel did was install money people in key positions engineering folks previously held. This shifted a lot of responsibility and changed how projects were managed.
I don't have much insight into the lives of C-suite execs, but from my limited window into corporate management, I don't see any sort of walk in the park. They might get disproportionate compensation, but the hours are long, the stress levels are high, and turnover is higher than in the lower ranks.
There's a lot of complacency that can happen here in big corporations. The one direct experience I had dealing with these folks and my mom's experiences really spoke volumes. The two drivers I saw were how many were in management (too many meant a lot more complacency) and how much they were able to drop on subordinates.

The location my mom worked at (national company) had balanced numbers and what you describe is exactly what happened. However in other parts of the country (she traveled to coordinate and thus got to see inner workings of them) there was a trend between larger management staffing and complacency.
 

bit_user

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There's a lot of complacency that can happen here in big corporations. The one direct experience I had dealing with these folks and my mom's experiences really spoke volumes. The two drivers I saw were how many were in management (too many meant a lot more complacency) and how much they were able to drop on subordinates.

The location my mom worked at (national company) had balanced numbers and what you describe is exactly what happened. However in other parts of the country (she traveled to coordinate and thus got to see inner workings of them) there was a trend between larger management staffing and complacency.
That's interesting. I could imagine the level of complacency being positively correlated with the proportion of managerial employees. More room for political gamesmanship means more CYA behavior and more aversion to risk. That can certainly look a lot like complacency, but it's not quite the same thing.

In my company, they love to strip out layers of management. It's so bad that managers hardly have time or energy to deal with all the issues they ought to, so problems are allowed to fester. They also have everyone on exactly the same benefits plan - not one for management and another for everyone else. And because a lot of the employees are factory or service personnel, it's not overly generous.
 
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bit_user

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Fat cats as Tom stated...and that's hardly a new thing. But bit_user makes a good point on work load/turn over rates at that level so while I assume some of this is legit being it is Nvidia, some of it might be misconstrued/misrepresented facts. I'd be curious to know how much of which it is but with it being rumors, we'll likely never know for sure.
My primary complaint about upper-level execs is just an overinflated sense of their worth. Probably some don't work very hard, but I think plenty do.

One thing I think might be happening with Nvidia is just burnout. I can see it being hard to stay motivated, once you reach a point where you could already comfortably retire. I know a guy who works in the business side of the company. I haven't heard much from him, since he started there. He complained about the expectations and workload, and he is not a lazy man.
 

Co BIY

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That motive breaks down, once the stock enters "fantasy land" pricing, like it currently is. They are no doubt cashing out, because most are probably smart enough to realize that it can't keep going up much more.

There should be a name for this particular moral hazard. When your stock price is no longer reasonably connected to a realistic plan for revenues. It jacks the incentives.
 

Co BIY

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My primary complaint about upper-level execs is just an overinflated sense of their worth. Probably some don't work very hard, but I think plenty do.

One thing I think might be happening with Nvidia is just burnout. I can see it being hard to stay motivated, once you reach a point where you could already comfortably retire. I know a guy who works in the business side of the company. I haven't heard much from him, since he started there. He complained about the expectations and workload, and he is not a lazy man.

I see this problem with line-level employees at my work. It makes perfect sense when studies have shown that "Happiness" or Life satisfaction doesn't really increase with increases in income past about $100k a year. (Figure may need to be adjusted 20-40% for inflation or 200% for living in California)

An possible solution is to increase the number of positions and reduce the associated responsibilities. 3/4 and 1/2 positions are much desired among employees. From the complaints it sounds that some employees have already figured it out. Maybe just codify the existing reality (Like paving a social path).
 
In my company, they love to strip out layers of management. It's so bad that managers hardly have time or energy to deal with all the issues they ought to, so problems are allowed to fester.
I've seen that myself at lower level management and it's always awful. The higher ups seem to take the stance of "fewer salaries to pay" without caring about the very real problems being caused.
 

bit_user

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studies have shown that "Happiness" or Life satisfaction doesn't really increase with increases in income past about $100k a year.
What I've heard about income vs. happiness is that the benefits of a raise are:
  1. short-lived.
  2. proportional to the raise in relative terms. A $10k raise is not as impactful to someone making $100k as to someone making $30k. To have the same impact, the raise should be the same % of their income.

So, in order to keep people happy, you would need to give them regular raises of a roughly comparable % increase. At some point, I'd agree that no amount of additional money is going to meaningfully impact their lifestyle, at which point maybe there's a drop-off in the impact that additional raises have.

Also, I'd have to debate you on that $100k/$200k threshold... not only is it highly-dependent on where you live, but also how many dependents you have (including a non-working spouse/partner). Yes, I can see that once people have enough to buy a nice home, keep all the bills paid, and put enough away for a comfortable retirement, getting more is nice but not as important.
 
Intel didn't do this really what Intel did was install money people in key positions engineering folks previously held. This shifted a lot of responsibility and changed how projects were managed.
I remember they sacked a lot of "elders" in the higher engineering and management positions while re-shuffling the C-suite after Otellini stepped down / retired. Case in point, some of those went to Apple and lead the creation of the M1, no?

That's what I'm talking about.

So, my point could be: you kick the "fat cats" (as Tom called them) out and they'll have plenty incentive to work against you as they hold key information and experience you won't get back easily if not at all ever again. I hope Jensen can talk sense to them, if this is true, since losing top notch experence is really bad in your organisation.

Regards.
 
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cyrusfox

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No layoffs in 15 years. Phenomenally ran company, Credit to Jensen, he may not be well loved externally especially to external partners, but they are irreplaceable and incredibly successful.

As for the employment effort discrepancy, I fully expect those in retirement mode will eventually wake up and rekindle their drive or decide to start a new chapter elsewhere. But the newer driven employees are a bit myopic on both pace and strategy. All they can see is the current injustice of now and perceived slights and imbalances. Not a very accurate picture but more about office politics.
 
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Co BIY

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I remember they sacked a lot of "elders" in the higher engineering and management positions while re-shuffling the C-suite after Otellini stepped down / retired. Case in point, some of those went to Apple and lead the creation of the M1, no?

That's what I'm talking about.

So, my point could be: you kick the "fat cats" (as Tom called them) out and they'll have plenty incentive to work against you as they hold key information and experience you won't get back easily if not at all ever again. I hope Jensen can talk sense to them, if this is true, since losing top notch experience is really bad in your organization.

Very good point. Key would be to find a way to allow them the slower pace they've earned but keep the experience and capabilities available for the company. Also need to make sure there are opportunities for growth for younger employees.

I actually think Jensen's appeal to treat work performance like a high end sport shows he is thinking about things the right way and understands that it has to be about more than money.
 

Tom Sunday

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Um, what sort of company are you talking about? I can scarcely think of a major company that believes it's "totally immune from the ails of the world at large." And how do you know 80% of them won't vote? At my company, they're pretty aggressive at trying to get employees to join the PAC (Political Action Committee).
It’s not that major companies believe that they are "totally” immune from the ails of the world. It’s all about a greater portion of the senior execs which have been collecting bundles of compensation over the many years. Many today already amassed what we casually term FY-money and even with their continued absence of no serious pedal to the metal . On the 80% voting and from what I repeatedly hear during our 9-hole plays at the club, besides in the hallways of ‘VP-Row’ on the third floor…nobody cares about politics, as there are so many other more important (selfish) priorities. Like wealth management, a second Palm Springs mid-century Fairway vacation home, expensive wives, getting the kids into the right kind of colleges, modern art collection, vintage automobiles, etc. Yes certain companies still give company cars to VP’s and above. Once you have that perk one will never give it up! And especially now with the cost of gasoline, dealer maintenance, insurance, airport parking , theft grab and go issues, it remains a big no-worry instant freebee! Priority #5 in any job renegotiation. If a family relocation is required the company still buys ones home including a onetime $30,000 relocation payment just for incidentals. My family moved 8-times in my career including to the UAE, Holland and Germany. I remember telling my son at that time: “Nobody goes to MIT to play football and how lucky I was to at least having been able to roam and nibble at the fringes of a successful and now lethargic company but with its right and perfect timings.”
 
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