Why is this guy making 25X what POTUS makes?

akm91 said:

---

Why is this guy making 25X what POTUS makes?

---

Because the president only makes $400k a year and you can easily get someone competent to do it for that. The real pay is the prestige.

You think Trump is doing it for the money? You think someone like Trump would lead the TVA for $195k a year (top of the GS scale)?

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

Only 14% of Lyash's compensation and 25% of other top executive compensation is base salary. The remainder is a complex mix of performance awards, retention incentives and deferred income, much of it based on targets set by the TVA Board of Directors and Lyash.

---

---

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/local/2024/11/15/tva-ceo-jeff-lyash-pay-highest-among-federal-employees/76268807007/

So Lyash set the targets that determined a little over 60% of his own overall compensation. That doesn't sound very efficient to me.

4 said:

---

No federal employee should make 10.5 million bucks per year.

It's a position of service to your fellow citizens, not a charity.

It should be a hardship to be endured for just a little while until you can pass the baton

---

I don't agree with that last part, but they definitely shouldn't be paid 10.5mil a year.

Nobody is worth that paycheck.

The question is whether the feds should be running a utility. TVA is about the same size as Duke Energy, except Duke doesn't have all the dams and rivers to manage, like TVA does . TVA is also a utility with nuclear plants, so they need that kind of expertise. The Duke CEO made about $20 million, so his salary is comparable. However, I understand him leaving....I wouldn't want to be a target of Trump.

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Huh?

Exactly what is this person producing?
Whats the product? What's the revenue?

That's right. Government doesn't produce ***** They just take from those who do.

And who is this person accountable to?

Its not even remotely the same thing.

It is amazing to me that the same group that decries government incompetence and *****es about other people wanting the fruits of their labor for the common good also demands the government pay only enough to attract the most incompetent employees and insist that those who are hard-working and highly qualified donate their labor for the good of everyone else.

deddog said:

---

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Huh?

Exactly what is this person producing?
Whats the product? What's the revenue?

That's right. Government doesn't produce ***** They just take from those who do.

And who is this person accountable to?

Its not even remotely the same thing.

---

TVA is the 6th largest electrical utility in the US with over $12 billion in revenue and over 10,000 employees. It operates on its own revenue with no federal funding. It's essentially a federal owned by privately operated company.

ABATTBQ11 said:

---

deddog said:

---

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Huh?

Exactly what is this person producing?
Whats the product? What's the revenue?

That's right. Government doesn't produce ***** They just take from those who do.

And who is this person accountable to?

Its not even remotely the same thing.

---

TVA is the 6th largest electrical utility in the US with over $12 billion in revenue and over 10,000 employees. It operates on its own revenue with no federal funding. It's essentially a federal owned by privately operated company.

---

Divest it.

No reason the federal government should be involved in their business.

Waffledynamics said:

---

4 said:

---

No federal employee should make 10.5 million bucks per year.

It's a position of service to your fellow citizens, not a charity.

It should be a hardship to be endured for just a little while until you can pass the baton

---

I don't agree with that past part, but they definitely shouldn't be paid 10.5mil a year.

Nobody is worth that paycheck.

---

Well I will tell you something, that is exactly how the founding fathers saw their roles in government.

None of them wanted to be in DC. They approached their service in government as necessary and as a sacrifice to their country. As a sacred duty.

Not a place to make a living and get rich.

They could not wait to get back to their businesses and private lives.

4 said:

---

Waffledynamics said:

---

4 said:

---

No federal employee should make 10.5 million bucks per year.

It's a position of service to your fellow citizens, not a charity.

It should be a hardship to be endured for just a little while until you can pass the baton

---

I don't agree with that past part, but they definitely shouldn't be paid 10.5mil a year.

Nobody is worth that paycheck.

---

Well I will tell you something, that is exactly how the founding fathers saw their roles in government.

None of them wanted to be in DC. They approached their service in government as necessary and as a sacrifice to their country. As a sacred duty.

Not a place to make a living and get rich.

They could not wait to get back to their businesses and private lives.

---

So what kind of employee will you find to run the $13 billion a year TVA for $195,000 a year as some form of "civil service"?

Teslag said:

---

4 said:

---

No federal employee should make 10.5 million bucks per year.

It's a position of service to your fellow citizens, not a charity.

It should be a hardship to be endured for just a little while until you can pass the baton

---

So a bunch of flunkies that cant hack it in the private sector?

---

Yes, precisely, not by design, but certainly in practice. This is also why the government should not be able to have such a massive impact on day to day activities and business operations. It is full of people who can't hack it in the private sector.

And when you get the results your paying for who will you blame for the failures?

Again, as I've said, the TVA should be spun off. But if we want organizational leadership that matters and is effective it doesn't come for $195k a year.

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

President of the US make $400k I think.

FCBlitz said:

---

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

President of the US make $400k I think.

---

See earlier post. The prestige of being president is worth far more than the salary. You think Trump is doing it because he needs $400k?

Many are questioning the wrong issue. It's not the salary for federal employees that is the problem. It's their complete unaccountability. It needs to be far easier to fire federal employees. Reward them for being effective while coming in under budget. Do that and you can pay top tier for talent while also cutting fat and employees that are just sucking taxpayer funds.

Ag with kids said:

---

ABATTBQ11 said:

---

deddog said:

---

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Huh?

Exactly what is this person producing?
Whats the product? What's the revenue?

That's right. Government doesn't produce ***** They just take from those who do.

And who is this person accountable to?

Its not even remotely the same thing.

---

TVA is the 6th largest electrical utility in the US with over $12 billion in revenue and over 10,000 employees. It operates on its own revenue with no federal funding. It's essentially a federal owned by privately operated company.

---

Divest it.

No reason the federal government should be involved in their business.

---

Why? It's not much different than any other public utility

Regardless, how much this guy was getting paid is a moot point because it didn't come from tax dollars. If the TVA BoD thinks that what it takes to get someone competent and qualified enough to run that kind of organization, and it sure seems like that's a reasonable compensation package compared to dollar utilities, then that's what it takes. The alternative is getting cheap and probably paying someone to run it into the ground.

Teslag said:

---

And when you get the results your paying for who will you blame for the failures?

Again, as I've said, the TVA should be spun off. But if we want organizational leadership that matters and is effective it doesn't come for $195k a year.

---

You're arguing that it should be better. I'm just telling you how it is. Nobody likes it, but it's made worse by the immense impact the feds have on the day to day life of every person. That 3rd tier flunky that couldn't make in the private sector is validated because the position holds power, not because they are qualified to wield it. The power they have is the problem.

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Lets see, he makes more than 20 times what the ultimate CEO of this country makes, the President, at $400,000.

Let the private sector pay him that amount, not the taxpayer.

The usual defender(s) of government waste/inefficiency I see are triggered by this.

APHIS AG said:

---

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Lets see, he makes more than 20 times what the ultimate CEO of this country makes, the President, at $400,000.

Let the private sector pay him that amount, not the taxpayer.

---

How much does the TVA draw down in taxpayer funds every year again?

Is the CEO of TVA paid by TVA or the federal government?

If TVA, then who cares what they make... If the organization is solvent. Sounds like they lose money so something is propping that up.

If the government pays him, then they're accountable to 300 million people, not just the TVA.

Per google ai, current issues for TVA are inefficient leadership and senior management infighting. They issue their own bonds and are currently in $21billion debt. A major complaint is that their use of government grants has failed to help foster new businesses and has created environmental problems. Maybe the CEO isn't earning his compensation but gets it anyway? If we want to draw parallels to comparable industry, would a comparable CEO have survived thus long?

Teslag said:

---

4 said:

---

Well I will tell you something, that is exactly how the founding fathers saw their roles in government.

None of them wanted to be in DC. They approached their service in government as necessary and as a sacrifice to their country. As a sacred duty.

Not a place to make a living and get rich.

They could not wait to get back to their businesses and private lives.

---

So what kind of employee will you find to run the $13 billion a year TVA for $195,000 a year as some form of "civil service"?

---

So what kind of employee will you find to run the most powerful military in the world, a 27 trillion dollar economy, and get paid $400,000 a year to do it?

UTExan said:

---

" WASHINGTON Tennessee Valley Authority CEO Jeff Lyash the highest-paid federal employee with a compensation package of $10.5 million per year abruptly announced Friday that he was retiring 11 days after the return to office of President Trump, who during his first term slammed Lyash's "ridiculous" pay and vowed to fire him.

"Sounds like Lyash got DOGE'd," a senior administration official told The Post, referring to Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency initiative to rein in allegedly wasteful federal spending."
https://nypost.com/2025/01/31/us-news/top-paid-federal-employee-leaving-10-5m-job-after-first-term-trump-said-were-getting-rid-of-him/

///
$10.5 million????

---

How in the living hell is a gov't official making that kind of money?? Our federal government is the biggest cesspool of bureaucrats that ever existed.

Teslag said:

---

4 said:

---

Waffledynamics said:

---

4 said:

---

No federal employee should make 10.5 million bucks per year.

It's a position of service to your fellow citizens, not a charity.

It should be a hardship to be endured for just a little while until you can pass the baton

---

I don't agree with that past part, but they definitely shouldn't be paid 10.5mil a year.

Nobody is worth that paycheck.

---

Well I will tell you something, that is exactly how the founding fathers saw their roles in government.

None of them wanted to be in DC. They approached their service in government as necessary and as a sacrifice to their country. As a sacred duty.

Not a place to make a living and get rich.

They could not wait to get back to their businesses and private lives.

---

So what kind of employee will you find to run the $13 billion a year TVA for $195,000 a year as some form of "civil service"?

---

You won't. That's why when Elizabeth Warren got a bill passed to cap CEO compensation at Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae after 2008, two other extremely large quasi-government entities, those orgs shifted the CEO responsibilities to their respective presidents (who did not fall under the cap) so they could recruit and retain the required talent to run their operations.

There's a lot of ignorance on what TVA actually is and a lot of leftist CEO comp jealousy on this thread. Kinda surprising really.

Someone post this yo-yos mug. What wastefulness paying somebody that much money

deddog said:

---

Teslag said:

---

What would a private sector CEO make for a company with similar number of employees, assets, and responsibilities?

---

Huh?

Exactly what is this person producing? The same thing any ceo produces for an energy company
Whats the product? What's the revenue? Electricity. Tens of BILLIONS of dollars

That's right. Government doesn't produce ***** They just take from those who do.

And who is this person accountable to?

It's not even remotely the same thing.

---

What are you blathering about? He produces the same thing the head of any private energy company produces. The fact that it's the government doesn't change any of that.

https://www.tva.com/news-media/releases/tva-reports-fiscal-year-2024-financial-results

ABATTBQ11 said:

---

It is amazing to me that the same group that decries government incompetence and *****es about other people wanting the fruits of their labor for the common good also demands the government pay only enough to attract the most incompetent employees and insist that those who are hard-working and highly qualified donate their labor for the good of everyone else.

---

So how much money does it take to ensure competence? Obviously 10.5 million to run TVA is too low, as it sounds like Lyash wasn't particularly great.

It looks like the issue is less "should the TVA CEO be paid $10.5 million," and more "should this person be the CEO." If the TVA is constantly losing money, he is not being effective. Of course, our fed gov is also constantly in the red.

Maybe they should hire someone with a lower base salary and then have someone else set the incentive bonuses based on efficiency and saving money? This guy was setting his own bonus incentives. Of course he set the bar low and overcompensated himself.

I agree that this guy is overpaid, but another CEO might be worth the money. Yes, a restructured incentive package could produce better efficiency.

What really needs to happen here is for TVA to sell it. With it being government owned I bet it is less efficient than any private utility because if there is one thing we all know, it is that the government doesn't do anything efficiently no matter who you have as the CEO.

This seems relevant. Guy probably quit cause he is afraid of what DOGE will find...

The highest ranking Treasury official, David A Lebryk, is resigning rather than complying with a request by @DOGE for access to audit where they’ve spent trillions of dollars a year. Why would career bureaucrats fear an audit by @elonmusk and @doge to see where we can save money? pic.twitter.com/lccLXJOL6M

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) January 31, 2025

Lots of jealous people here that someone is doing well.

He must be very competent and good people cost good money.

Poor man must have worked so hard and for so long to get to a point to earn the salary. In addition to that he could have made 5X more in the private sector, but he decided to work for the Govt so he could serve the people.

But he needs to eat. So pay him. Nothing is free.