America’s Lowest-Paid CEO

A recent report by the Wall Street Journal revealed which of America’s CEOs earn the most. LasagnaFarm reports on which CEO earns the least.

Stephenson J. Cartwright IV, CEO, Earthgrass Recordings -- $11,250/yr. Steve Cartwright, 37, who has held the top spot at Saugerties, NY-based Earthgrass Recordings since 1989, is one music mogul who knows which chakra goes with fish. Earthgrass, an independent record label that, Cartwright says, “promotes joyful, life-affirming, eco-aware music, with world-beat roots and compassionate, progressive sensibilities,” is home to such artists as Bruce Witherspoon, a self-described “natural zitherist,” and Karen Silverberg, a folk musician who interprets traditional Uzbek folk tales for lute and harpsichord.

Cartwright, who, according to Silverberg, is a “tireless advocate for musicians who blossom outside the mainstream,” performs all of the label’s A&R and business-development functions himself, spending most days scouting talent and seeking distribution deals. One such deal, with Ted’s Natural Foods and Juicery, a retail establishment in New Paltz, NY, boosted Earthgrass’s 2002 revenues by nearly 3% alone. “Cartwright is definitely doing his own thing on his own time,” Ted Smith, owner of Ted’s, said. “No other label out there would even go near producing these 'Natural Zither' CDs, which a couple of our customers really enjoy.”

Cartwright also manages the Earthgrass staff, consisting of two interns, both students at the nearby Academy for an Open-Minded, Inclusive and Compassionate Holistic Lifestyle, who handle most of the day-to-day responsibilities for running the label, and a cleaning woman who comes in once a month. “Steve is such a world-wise soul,” said Phyllis Darnell, one of the interns. “He is so present for the earth and all of its irrepressible bounty that you could cry. He is a virtual shaman as well as a possessor of the third eye. A renaissance man of mythological proportion. Insensitive commercialism is just not in his purview.”

Some detractors, however, say Cartwright's lack of commercial focus may serve to undermine the company's aesthetic and professional aspirations. "I can't believe anyone actually buys that horseshit," said Norman Falstock, Cartwright's landlord, to whom the company has been in arrears several times during the past year. "He was playing me one of his CDs yesterday and it sounded like horses dragging an old piano down the road. It is just the worst crap imaginable."

Earthgrass reported total revenues in 2003 of nearly $1,500, most of which was generated by the winnings from a scratch-off lottery ticket in the third quarter. Cartwright's corporate compensation package included a salary of $250 as well as stock options worth in excess of 8lbs of gluten-free spelt flour from a local food co-op. Cartwright admitted that most of his personal income, which topped $11,000 that year, was mainly paid by interest earned on a small inheritance received from his late grandfather, Stephenson J. Cartwright, Jr., who died in 1988. “What can I say,” Cartwright said, “We serve a higher calling than that of the marketplace, that is, the great, nurturing Earth Mother.”