[jjmarr]

Sorry, I had it set to Canadian loonies and got inflated numbers.

Economists assume utility of money is logarithmically proportional to the amount, so losing a certain % of one's wealth hurts the same at every level.[1] Nadella made $84 million and is worth $1.4 billion according to the internet. For a $20k pay cut to hurt the same as a $5 million one, you'd need to have a net worth of x where (5000000/1400000000)x=20000 -> x=$5,600,000. For a $2772 pay cut---which is 6% of the median US salary---to hurt as much, you'd need $776,000 in wealth.

The median net worth is actually more like $192,700. So Nadella would have to give up (2772/192,700)*1400000000=$20 million to feel the pain of the median American giving up 6% of their income. That's quadrice what he actually did give up, but it still wouldn't result in his TC declining, since his pay rose by $30 million this year.

[1]https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/23952/is-the-u...