It's pretty cool when CEOs take one for the team and opt to collect non-salaries.  Granted, they're not starving with the mountains of stock options, perks (read: airplanes), side businesses and the like, but the gesture is a gallant one.  It's nice to see when a business leader is willing to base his compensation off the success of his company, and therefore, his own success.  Google's leaders are doing it.  Apple's Steve Jobs just re-upped for another buck.  It's a decent trend to see, and a good sign that the tech industry is back on track and stronger than ever.

Apple Messiah Steve Jobs, who brought the company out of its relative slumber in the 90s to a company to be reckoned with, for his work for the past year, has earned a whole dollar. Yes, somewhere out there is a check from Apple to Steve Jobs bearing a single-digit to compensate him for a spectacular year.

But don't be sad for old Steve yet. According to Forbes, he is one of the richest men on earth, but his wealth comes from his stock options and not his regular salary. Many other of Apple's executives received some hefty bonuses for their performance, a year after the company's board said its top executives were being underpaid. Still, there's no love for Steve.

Maybe I'll approach Steve one day when I see him walking down the street and I'll hold my mighty, crisp Washington bill in front of his face and he will bow down and do as I say. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get him to name a special edition iPod after me: The Divine Almighty, and when you touch the clickwheel, it screams my name and turns an eerie purple glow. And then I'll rename the company to 'Snapple' just to shake things up a bit and get us involved in a dramatic copyright infringement suit with those fiery fruit guys, the verdict of which will shake the foundation of the nation. I'll also have to start calling him 'Blow' just for the fun of it. Yeah, maybe ... just, maybe.

It's really no surprise that Steve Jobs is a multi-billionaire with all the success of the iTunes, and the iPod have achieved. Forbes is ranking Steve at 140th place (tied with 6 other people) for a net worth of US$4.4 billion, but clearly Steve has big plans to increase that number. Apple plans to hire 3000 people in India for overseas tech support with at least 1500 by the end of the year clearly making him, and the investors a happier lot.

Go Steve!

Now if that doesn't give you a warm feeling inside, maybe you should have a few billion too.

I don't know about Steve Jobs, but I sure wouldn't want to make anyone who looks remotely like Steve Wozniak in this picture mad at me for anything, let alone switching chips to side with the "dark rulers." Apparently the Woz didn't think too much of Apple's decision to switch to Intel chips, looking at it as a traitorous move, or something along those lines.

Woz recently told the Globe and Mail that he is working on untangling his panties from their wad in light of Jobs' decision:
"It's like consorting with the enemy. We've had this long history of saying that the enemy is the big black-hatted guys, and they kind of represent evil," he explained. "All of a sudden we're the same in this hardware regard, so it's a little hard to swallow your words from the past."


So the Woz will make Jobs swallow something a little less savory: Woz's heartbreak.

I once saw Steve Jobs at a coffee shop in Seattle, but I didn't look at him. Thought he might want to sue me for something if I did. Bought him a danish as a peace offering/settlement when my eye wandered over to see what he was playing on his iPod.

A new year, a new suit. Apple has filed a suit against Burst.com, a company it has been dealing with over the past few months in an attempt to quell charges by Burst that Apple is violating patents of theirs. According to Information Week, the suit is a pre-emptive strike in anticipation of Burst coming forth with those charges in court.

"Apple is seeking a declaratory judgment from the court that its products do not infringe upon patents held by Burst.com. Apple declines to specify which products are the focus of the dispute. Burst.com says it has been pursuing licensing for Apple's QuickTime, iPod, and iTunes products, including Apple's iTunes Music Store."

The article doesn't say which of Burst's patents Apple is reportedly in violation of, but Burst.com settled a similar suit against Microsoft last year for $60 million.

To Richard Lang, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Burst.com, Apple's rejection of his company's claims represents something of a double standard. "Big companies love patents as long as they're not owned by someone else," he observes.

It seems Steve has met his match.

[Via, Information Week]