You know, it's amazing what a difference a couple of weeks can make. A fortnight ago, Steve Jobs was probably the lowest-paid CEO of a billion-dollar company in history. For two and a half years, the man accepted $1 a year as his only salary as he turned a sinking ship into the darling of the computer industry. No bonuses, no stock options, no nothing-- just a single measly buck so he was officially on the company payroll. And now he's arguably pulling down more crazy ducats than anyone else of his ilk. Oh, sure, his salary is still the same old buck a year, but it's the bonuses that have the media paying attention: the stock options for ten million shares of AAPL and the Gulfstream V jet.

Of the two components, the jet is the flashier; a $45 million private plane that lets Steve keep up with the Ellisons. Bad Boy Larry's been a Gulfstream V owner for a while, now, notes faithful viewer Robert Jung-- and according to Marc Messer, he regularly ticks off the locals by using it to violate local noise ordinances. Like John Haytol, we can't wait to see what happens when these two drag-race.

But while the jet's extravagant, it's the stock options that really have people blinking in disbelief. Ten million shares of AAPL is worth an amount of money known in financial circles as "a royal buttload." According to the Los Angeles Times, Steve made over $200 million on paper just in the past week. That's led "compensation expert" Graef Crystal to call Apple's Board's decision "irresponsible"; "it suggests a board that is just consumed with hero worship," he says. And he says that like it's a bad thing...

Okay, sure, if Steve uses his already-considerable wealth to exercise his options to the tune of the full ten million shares, he'll become the company's largest shareholder. But is that such a bad thing? Personally, we'd be thrilled to see Steve become a bigger shareholder than Microsoft. We've been edgy ever since the 1997 Stevenote when Gates announced that freaky $150 million investment, so we say, hey, more power to Steve.