Microsoft announced today that it would increase the salaries of Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer. If these two aren't amongst the most underpaid executives in the world, I don't know who is.

There's little doubt that Microsoft's stock has languished over the past couple of years and that many now view the company as being past its prime, tired, and fat. But over the next year or so this powerhouse is set to release new versions of its most powerful money generating products, including the greatly anticipated successor to Windows XP.

So Bill will now make $620,000 per year for creating and running one of the most successful organizations ever. While that sounds like a lot of money to most of us, let's not forget that Dennis Kozlowski had his former employer, Tyco, pay $1 million for a birthday party for his wife and $6,000 for shower curtains.

So congrats to Microsoft, its shareholders, and its customers. And thank you to Bill and Steve for recognizing that they provide a great deal of value, but don't need to be paid more than the guy across the street in order to feel good about themselves.

Steven Rothberg, President and Founder