Steven A. Clifford is an American author and former businessman and government official. He was the Special Deputy Comptroller of New York City and was CEO of

King Broadcasting Company King Broadcasting Company is an American former media conglomerate founded in 1946 by Dorothy Bullitt. The company was owned by the Bullitt family until it was sold to the Providence Journal Company in 1991; it is currently a subsidiary of T ...

and

National Mobile Television National Mobile Television (NMT) was a Los Angeles–based television broadcasting industry corporation that operated a fleet of mobile television units. Then known as Northwest Mobile Television, NMT was founded by Stan Carlson and Stimson Bullit ...

. He is most famous for his 2017 book, ''The CEO Pay Machine.''

Biography

Clifford received his B.A. from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1964 and his M.B.A. from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1968. During the New York City financial crisis of the 1970s, he was a special deputy comptroller of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he was credited for creating the city's integrated financial management system (IFMS) between 1975 and 1977. From 1987 to 1992, Clifford was CEO of

and then

from 1992 to his retirement in 2000. In 2017, Clifford published ''The CEO Pay Machine: How It Trashes America and How to Stop It'', a book that reveals how corporations craft their compensation packages and criticizes what Clifford calls "outrageous" pay of corporate chief executives, arguing that excessive pay would hurt American businesses and shareholders. In 2019, he delivered a testimony in the

United States House Committee on Financial Services The United States House Committee on Financial Services, also referred to as the House Banking Committee and previously known as the Committee on Banking and Currency, is the United States congressional committee, committee of the United States ...

. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Clifford's criticism of the corporate pay gap and call to rein in their compensation packages were cited by multiple critics and publications. Clifford sits on the board of

KING-FM KING-FM (98.1 MHz; "Classical KING") is a non-commercial classical music radio station in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Classic Radio, a nonprofit organization. The studios and offices are on Mercer St in Seattle. KING-FM holds periodi ...

, and has been a director of companies including Mosaica Education and

Todd Shipyards Todd or Todds may refer to: Places Australia * Todd River, an ephemeral river United States * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated c ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clifford, Steven Living people American chief executives in the mass media industry American telecommunications industry businesspeople American chief executives Columbia College (New York) alumni Harvard Business School alumni 21st-century American writers 20th-century American businesspeople American civil servants Year of birth missing (living people)