And yet, a massively life-changing annual salary level for almost all Americans.

You don't spend a percentage, you spend a fixed amount. $1.5 million is enough to live in a nice house, eat what you want, send your kids to nice schools, Aruba in the summer and Aspen in the winter, and still have enough to buy a very fast car. It's easier to focus on EV once you live this life.

Everyone read that as $1.5 million in salary but I didn't mean to say he got that every year. He got it once.

So? It's still more than most families will make in a decade. How many years was that $1.5M compensation for? What other compensation did he get?

Being honest, I'd really have to know what kind of timeframe that $1.5M was paid out. Was that a single year? 5? 10? It changes my opinion, slightly.

If its $1.5M in a single year, I have absolutely no tears to shed.

If that was 5 years, that's $300k/yr in compensation. A very comfortable salary in just about every place in the country. Once again, I probably have no tears.

If that was 10 years, that's $150k/yr. Ok, if you're expected to live in Manhattan or whatever, I'll agree that's pretty tight. Still though, that's a couple times the average household income in the US. Congratulations on being a bit closer to a plebeian. Boo hoo, guy who could have had generational wealth just had to live like the rest of us. What a tragedy. Truly zero income, being more than twice the average household income for a single earner without even thinking of other compensation he might have received.

I can't imagine this was some kind of performance pay over 15-20 years, so his pay has to be in this. I don't have a WSJ subscription, so I can't comment further on it.