Try this one on for size: You can’t pay too much for a good wireless license or a good high-tech executive.
This statement, mind you, is totally politically incorrect and goes against the grain of conventional wisdom, what with C-block PCS auction prices and executives’ salaries going through the roof while employees drop like flies off the payrolls at AT&T Corp., GTE Corp., Nynex Corp., IBM Corp., Digital Equipment and the like.
It seems the public has a love-hate relationship with the American Dream. Make good for yourself, but not too good. The hard mindset on money, skill and enterprise is a bit screwy-and confused.
It’s OK, mind you, to despise AT&T Chairman Bob Allen for making $3.7 million a year or GTE CEO Charles Lee for making $2 million or Nynex Corp. CEO William Ferguson for bringing in $800,000. Heavens, I’m not defending them. I’m a flaming pro-labor liberal (As if you hadn’t noticed).
I doubt Allen or any of his ilk are worth their inflated salaries. How can you not be successful running a giant monopoly or oligopoly business?
But the free ride is over. The competitive marketplace promised by the new telecommunications law will force high-tech business executives to earn their keep. And if they can survive and thrive in this rough-and-tumble environment, they’ll be worth every nickel of their million dollar salaries.
And who’s to question their worth?
The risks for high-tech managers will be greater and the margin for error small in the new competitive paradigm. Competitors will be scheming ’round the clock to knock them off their feet.
I don’t hear anyone second guessing the huge salaries of Hollywood entertainers, rock stars and sports superstars. They’re worth whatever they can get. And so are golden geeks like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
The point is, the big salaries will have to be earned in the future.
Second point: It’s very tempting to assume the C-block bidders are paying too much and that the departure of John DeFeo, Craig McCaw and who knows, maybe GO Communications, are signs that prices are too high. I’ve been thinking that myself lately, but I’m reminded about how much folks thought John Kluge paid for paging properties in the early 1980s and how much the McCaw’s paid MCI and others. I’m not aware of anyone today who has paid too much for a decent wireless property.
The problem is, investors are unwilling to wait a long time for a return. But that’s a whole different issue then whether there is room for more pagers and pocket telephones. My guess is, 10 or 20 years from now, wireless devices will be as common with consumers as wristwatches, including the kind Dick Tracy wears.
