A footnote within the Palantir compensation disclosure made me snigger, which was noteworthy as a result of these compensation disclosures normally make me frown.

Referring to Mr. Karp’s apparently gargantuan payday, it mentioned: “The time period ‘compensation truly paid’ or ‘CAP’ doesn’t replicate the quantity of compensation truly paid, earned or obtained by him throughout the relevant yr.”

In actuality, Palantir mentioned, the numbers reported for Mr. Karp and a handful of different Palantir executives “are pushed primarily by adjustments in our inventory worth,” which rose greater than 100% in 2023, producing massive positive factors for shareholders and so, “following S.E.C. disclosure guidelines, the fiscal yr 2023 CAP disclosed beneath has elevated.” However the earlier yr, 2022, was a depressing one for the entire inventory market. Palantir shares fell sharply, as did the worth of Mr. Karp’s compensation, utilizing the New Accounting strategy. For 2022, the corporate mentioned, he misplaced greater than $1.7 billion.

These staggering, fluctuating sums can be perplexing in isolation. Nonetheless, they serve a goal, I believe. Large adjustments on this measure are an indication {that a} C.E.O. obtained monumental compensation packages involving firm inventory prior to now. For instance, The Occasions reported that for 2020, Mr. Karp obtained $1.1 billion in Conventional Pay, probably the most for any chief government that yr.

Equally, Broadcom reported that in 2023, Mr. Tan’s compensation with the New Accounting was $767,654,487, nearly 5 instances his already wealthy compensation on the Conventional Pay checklist. That occurred as a result of the share worth rose and Mr. Tan, the chief government of his firm since 2006, had amassed an excessive amount of inventory, choices and the like.