Zoom CEO Eric Yuan has announced that he will take a pay cut to the tune of 98% as the reason for laying off staffers.
Yuan made headlines this week following the fact that he was laying off 1 300 workers and he told the media he would also be taking a 98% salary cut as an acknowledgment of his fault.
“As the CEO and founder of Zoom, I am accountable for these mistakes and the actions we take today – and I want to show accountability not just in words but in my own actions,” Yuan wrote in an email to staff on Tuesday.
“To that end, I am reducing my salary for the coming fiscal year by 98% and forgoing my FY23 corporate bonus.”
It should be noted that the lay-offs account for roughly 15% of the total company but before you start applauding the altruistic Zoom CEO it should be noted that Yuan won’t be missing any meals.
According to Forbes, he and his family are worth $3.8 billion, and back in 2021, Reuters reported that the CEO transferred about 18 million shares worth over $6bn, according to a regulatory filing.
The transfers were related to Yuan’s estate planning practices, a Zoom spokesperson said. Yuan also transferred roughly 40% of his stake in the company to unspecified beneficiaries, Zoom disclosed in a filing in May 2021.
“The distributions were made in accordance with the terms of Eric Yuan and his wife’s trusts.”
In other tech news, Disney said this week that it plans to eliminate some 7000 jobs as it embarks on a broad effort to rein in expenses, making it the latest high-profile company to slash workers amid global economic uncertainty.
“The lay-offs are part of a drive to cut $5.5bn in costs across Disney,” CEO Bob Iger said according to IOL.
He outlined a reorganisation that seeks, among other things, to “return creativity to the centre of the company” and make its streaming business profitable.
