Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter Inc received salary of $1.40 (Rs 97.42) in 2018, the company revealed in the US Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) filing on Monday.
This is the first time the co-founder of micro blogging site has drawn a salary since he returned as Twitter chief in 2015 after leaving the position in 2008, two years after Twitter was launched.
Dorsey has declined all direct benefits and compensation for three years in 2015, 2016 and 2017. However, in 2018, he only okayed to salary of $1.40, said the company in its filing.
The Twitter chief can still make the use of $2.75 annual salary he receives from his mobile payment company 'Square'. In fact, in December 2018, Dorsey sold 1.7 million shares of Square, netting him close to $80 million after estimated taxes, reported Forbes. 'Currently, Dorsey's net worth stands at $4.7 billion, with his 61 million shares of Square accounting for $3.9 billion', reported by Forbes.
Dorsey's stake on Twitter is worth close to $600 million,which he hasn't touched. On the other hand, Twitter's other co-founders, Evan Williams has sold or donated nearly half his Twitter stock since April 2018.
Dorsey is not the only CEO who has volunteered for $1 salary. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle's Larry Ellison and Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin all famously collect a $1 salary every year.
In 2012, Zuckerberg earned $770,000 in salary and bonus, but now he is the lowest-paid employee of Facebook.
WHY CEOs ARE VOLUNTEERING FOR $1 SALARY?
One dollar salary are used in situations where a company's top executive wishes to work without direct compensation, but for legal reasons he/she must receive a payment above zero.
The One-dollar pay concept first emerged in the early 1900s, where various industry leaders from America offered their services to the government during times of war. Consequently, this trend revived in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and many business executives began accepting one-dollar salaries.
The one-dollar salary suggests a CEO is looking out for shareholders rather than drawing large amounts of cash. Besides, it also makes the CEO focused on growing the company's stock. At present, stock growth and capital gains are said to be a lot more attractive and is taxed much more favorably.
(With Reuters inputs)
Also read: Twitter limits number of accounts users can follow in a day
Also read: Lok Sabha polls 2019: Election Commission joins Twitter to create voter awareness