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Cake day: July 2nd, 2023

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  • 789k was pay + severance for Katherine Maher who left in 2021. Now that does seem excessive, I don’t know how that number came about or why severance was 600k but the year before Katherine’s comp was 406k. The compensation for the current CEO is 534k for 2023 per https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/200049703

    Of course that seems like a lot of money, and it is, but to put it in perspective, I am just another software engineer and I make more than that. In HCOL areas, at “big tech” it’s common for entry level SDEs with a BS to make 160-180k.

    So as I stated in a different comment, your criticism seems misplaced. What you have a problem with is really the financial situation our society is dealing with, and that’s perfectly reasonable. I would 100% agree that current wealth/pay distribution needs to be addressed.



  • The “essay” (for me) read more like a rant about the author’s opinions regarding hypothetical situations and how, in many people’s views, a successful non-profit spends money. Sure, maybe WMF could spend less but the table looked reasonable. I’ve donated before and I’m sure I will again because I use Wikipedia all the time. I am going to spend more time learning about the organization and its spending, but as of reading the linked material, I’m unmoved.

    Also, I get that 789k is a lot of money. Really more than anyone needs but it’s hardly an absurd amount given the norms for CEO pay. Yes, CEO pay is ridiculous but so is the entire economy, speaking as a US citizen. I would have guessed higher and many non-profit CEOs make much more than 789k. Plenty of people, with less responsibility and impact, make more than that so that pay is not really a WMF specific point.


  • I commented on someone who seemed to think that millennials wasn’t the correct generation because millennials must have grown up watching Seinfeld. Many did, but many didn’t. I know many people around my age that didn’t watch it so it’s fairly safe to assume that people who were 2-4 years old when the show ended might not have seen it, even re-runs. Remembering it and watching it enough to have an opinion on it are two different things.