Well, that depends... has he also cut any bonuses he may get? How much does he already have stashed away? Is the company public, or going public? If so, how much stock does he own? Is he contemplating an entry into politics and is doing it to put a nice coat of polish on his populism creds?
By the way: For the longest time, Steve Jobs had an annual salary of $1.00 as CEO of Apple. Of course, his stock holdings in the company gave him more money annually than the GDP of many small countries, but...
Anyrate, while this is admirable and such, the sceptic in me wants to know more abut how he can afford to do that (because $70k/yr in Seattle ain't really all that much money), and why.
$70,000 not being all that much money depends on how much you expect is "all that much". I was supporting a family in Seattle with a single income of $70,000 before taxes, with want of nothing.
But, that's not what prompted me to reply.He reduced his salary to 7% of its prior amount because he felt he had enough and wanted his company to better invest that money in its other employees. He could have six billion in cash sitting in accounts all over the world, and it wouldn't change the sense of his action.