What cost, leadership ?

What could anyone conceivably do to earn $1.5 billion in a year?

That's how much James Simons, founder of New York hedge fund Renaissance Technologies, took home last year, according to a study released today on the growing compensation gap between business leaders and everyone else.

CEOs of large U.S. companies last year averaged $10.8 million in total compensation, over 364 times the pay of the average U.S. worker, claims this analysis by Fair Economy based on survey of 386 Fortune 500 companies. The top 20 private equity and hedge fund managers, pocketed an average $657.5 million, Forbes magazine estimates.

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That’s 22,255 times the pay of an average U.S. worker.... Well, many aspiring hedge fund managers would like that, but then New York cops will first have to deal with rising instances of subway mugging.

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