Highest Paid Presidents / PM's around the World

The Economic recession has hit one and all, salary cuts and pink slips have taken their toll on the common man. Presidents, Prime Ministers are no exception. Most of the heads have cut down on their salaries or are planning to do so in the near future. Lets take a look at what the heads of top nations are earning.

Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore
(Country GDP: $235.6 billion - 2008)

Politicians in Singapore are amongst the most highly paid government officials in the world. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore earns five times more than the American President. Lee Hsien Loong takes an annual salary of $2.46 million.

Barack Obama, USA
(Country GDP: $13.81 trillion - 2007)

Second on the list is the President of the biggest economy of the world with a GDP of $13.81 trillion (2007). President Elect, Barack Obama will be getting an annual salary of $400,000 when he joins office next year.

Kevin Rudd, Australia
(Country GDP: $773 billion - 2007)

Third on the list is the Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd with an annual salary of $330,300.

Angela Merkel, Germany
(Country GDP: $2.585 trillion - 2006)

The first lady chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel receives an annual salary of € 242,000 (€ 22000 bonus included) ~ $ 307,340.

Nicolas Sarkozy, France
(Country GDP: $1.871 trillion - 2006)

The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy gets an annual salary of € 240,000 ~ $ 304,800. This is after he doubled his salary earlier this year.

Stephen Harper, Canada
(Country GDP: $1.274 trillion - 2007)

Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of the seventh largest economy of the world, Canada recieves an annual salary of $280,000.

Gordon Brown, UK
(Country GDP: $2.772 trillion - 2007)

Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the second biggest economy in Europe and fifth largest in the world receives an annual salary of € 187611 ~ $238,266.

Vladimir Putin, Russia

(Country GDP: $2.076 trillion -2007)

The Russian Prime Minister recieve an annual salary of $81,190, which is significantly less than his counterparts.

The graph below shows a comparison between GDP and Salaries of heads of Top Nations.

Selecting the right Christmas Business Gift

Christmas Business Gifts are an expression of gratitude towards new clients. Christmas Gifts also boost relations with current clients and especially employees by letting them know that they matter. Don't miss this opportunity to show that you care. What you give them is primarily decided by your budget, here are a few options that you may want to consider:

Expensive: These sure will get people excited
- Travel packages
- A Christmas banquet in a five star hotel.
- Reputed company watches (Omega) with company logo.
- Free Membership in Health Spas. Gym.

Nominal: These are pretty good and useful
- Yoga books, CDs, DVDs
- Leather folders with company logo
- Parker pens with company logo
- A desk calendar

Make sure that you decide your budget first and then you can choose from any of the above Christmas Business Gifts.

5 Biggest Bankruptcies the World has Witnessed

Every Company or organization is known and remembered by its success and Power . In this fast world, we just see the successful companies and forget the old Big companies due to their failure. The companies come and go like they never existed. Here is a list of 5 Biggest Bankruptcies the World has Witnessed.


5. Texaco Inc - $35.89 billion
Started of as Texas Fuel Company in 1901 in Beaumont, Texas, by Joseph S. Cullinan, Thomas J. Donoghue, Walter Benona Sharp, and Arnold Schlaet.
On April 12, 1987, Texaco filed for bankruptcy, but continued to function under protection of US bankruptcy laws.

4. Conseco Inc -$61.39 billion

Conseco was incorporated in 1979. It becames america’s top personal insurance company in a decade.Filed for Bankruptcy on December 18, 2002.Conseco got into trouble by piling debts over time. After losing the confidence of Wall Street its share crashed.




3. Enron Corp - $63.39 billion
Enron came into existence in 1985. It was named the ‘America’s Most Innovative Company’ by Fortune for six consecutive years.Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001. Enron masked its financial probems so that it could continue taking credit, this got enron into trouble later.

2. Worldcom Inc - $107 billion

Worldcom founded in 1983 was one of the top American firms in the communications sector. Its rapid growth was attributed to the acquisition policies it had. Filed for bankruptcy on July 21, 2002.WorldCom’s CFO, Scott Sullivan, altered the accounts to show that companies financial position was good.

1. Lehman Brothers -$639 billion

Henry Lehman opened a dry-goods store (H. Lehman) in 1844, changed the name to “H. Lehman and Bro” after the joining of his brother Emanuel Lehman in 1847 and finally to “Lehman Brothers” in 1850 when his youngest brother Mayer Lehman joined him.

Declared itself bankrupt on September 15, 2008. Primary reason for bankruptcy was its heavy investements in securities linked to the US sub-prime mortgage market.