Wiedeking is thought to have earned more than €60 million ($89 million), which puts him ahead of fellow top dogs Carlos Ghosn of Renault-Nissan, Alan Mullaly from Ford, Dieter Zetsche of Daimler and Sergio Marchionne of Fiat.
By comparison, Ghosn's salary for 2007 was €34.49 million, according to Automobilwoche, and Zetsche's paycheck was a relatively low €10.67 million. Mulally was paid the equivalent of €13.9 million last year and Marchionne earned just €6.91 million.
Wiedeking has defended his salary, pointing to increased corporate profits and bonuses for workers and shareholders as justification for the excessive ammount.
In his defense, pre-tax profits for Porsche did rise nearly €4 billion from €2.1 billion to €5.9 billion over the past year, and the carmaker is on the verge of overtaking the mighty Volkswagen Group. Not bad for a niche sports carmaker.
Reader Comments
Sun Apr 20 2008 1:34 PM
CK says
He is called Dieter Zetsche not Zietsche ;)
Sun Apr 20 2008 3:13 PM
Gus says
He is the master blaster.
Wish I owned stock...
Sun Apr 20 2008 3:19 PM
Germandude says
60 million! That's insane!
Sun Apr 20 2008 3:39 PM
MyWheelsOnWalls.com says
Germandude-Not sure what it's so insane? Here is a guy with a plan that has grew a business that at one time in the early nineties almost went belly up.
The questionI have, is how many companies have you turned around and how many people do you employ Germandude? Its CEO's like this that keep econimies growing, keep people employed, and provide a tax base from those they employ. Also these CEO's, just like us, can go and spend the money they have earned in our economy.
Quite frankly if we did'nt tax such people on their economic successes in business just think how much more money they would have to spend.
Although the left would just turn over and die if the rich got to live tax free but then again why do they all own homes in places like Monaco, Andora, Caymen Islands, etc.....
Sun Apr 20 2008 7:12 PM
cj says
I still don't understand how Porsche has the capital available to buy potentially the strongest collective car company in the world.
You're talking about Lambourgini, Bentley, Buggati. High rep. marques who's badge worth is immense (just look at the Continental range which is supposedly a twin-turbo'd Phaeton for twice the price). Not to mention Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda and Seat.
Tomorrows news...Porsche CEO found to be laundering billions of $'s through the company. The source of this money is believedly the cocaine and heroin industry. lol
Sun Apr 20 2008 11:48 PM
Fritz says
And if they weren't paying the top brass so much, they would already have complete control over Vee Dub, but maybe they wouldn't playing second fiddle to a Datsun either... Obviously, if they're making that much profit, the cars are built very cheaply in contrast to what they sell for. Tighten that up, cut the greed, and watch how simple it is to produce a 75K car with every bell and whistle with enough room to topple cars twice the price. On the other hand, corporations only care about the money, and consumers don't demand much anymore, why change if you don't have to?
Mon Apr 21 2008 5:54 AM
Wizards Lore says
cj - basically Porsche is the most profitable car company in the world. Their mark up from cost of building the cars to selling it far outstrip anything else even near them on the market. I think he is worth every cent.
Mon Apr 21 2008 2:48 PM
chris says
yeah cj, wizards lore nailed it right on the head. porsche is ridiculously profitable, and has a prestigious name like ferrari or lambo, but sells cars that are much cheaper. they sell relatively huge volumes of vehicles and they make tens of thousands of dollars profit off each. this is unlike any other "volume" brand that maybe makes 3k in profits on a GOOD car, and a premium brand that makes only a couple hundred or thousand vehicles every year.
They're perfectly placed in that sweet spot where they're well known, and more attainable than other brands, but still prestigious, and make an absolutely stunning car that has great value.
why would you buy a ferrari when you can porsche for significantly less? in the end, it wont break down like the ferrari, you wont be afraid to park it anywhere but your own garage, and unless you live near the autobahn or the isle of mann, who cares about top end?
but porsche made it huge with the cayenne. no doubt about it. they've made ridiculous sums of money from what is easily the ugliest car made in western europe.
Tue Apr 22 2008 8:00 PM
cj says
see I love the Cayenne and genuniely belive it's beatuiful so much nicer than the X5 or the ML and the motorhome that is the Q7.
althought it is a tarted up Touareg which itself is a nicer SUV than the rest
Wed Apr 23 2008 4:19 AM
Wizards Lore says
im a Porsche man through and through and i can tell you right now that if anyone was to offer me me one of the big SUVs i would go for a Range Rover Sport, as that looks like a proper 4wd and can do the business offroad. Dont get me wrong i like the Cayenne but i think the next model will be the one that blows everyone away as it will go its own style as opposed to a jacked up 4door 911. The new M-Class Merc is a good looker, the X5 is only good if its specced to the eyeballs in V8 trim, and the Tourag TT Diesel is awesome. The barge that is the Q7 should not be on the market as it is hideous, and you can get exactly the same thing with the new Highlander/Kluger or Mazda QX9 for about a third of the price
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