Ethics in Business

Why do business owners pay their employees much less than the amount of money they take home for themselves when it's a team effort?
Often companies will hide the total earnings from their workers so they settle and don't demand for higher pay.

I realise that without making profit, there is no incentive to even start a business in the first place. For most people anyway. Unless it's been your lifelong dream to open a restaurant or something.

So what's the fine line where you can get rich without having to exploit others?

But you should try starting a business first and then you would definitely understand why yiur argument is mistaken. It costs a lot on terms of time, effort, money to start your own business. And if you do so then you definitely deserve to pay yourself more than the worker! Who takes on all the start up costs and ongoing costs etc? Not the worker, but the worker gets a job! This does not equal exploitation does it? No.

I suppose I should've explained what I mean better. I'm talking about a really successful business to the point where the startup costs have been exceeded by the profits by 100,000% where the CEO is earning millions a year and the average worker is earning around 20k. That disparity is way too large to call fair by any means.

Because without workers, any business would crumble no matter the size.

Greed, ven though they are billionaires already they just want more money.

"most large companies exist solely to pay the shareholders as much as possible". This is a flawed argument with flawed economics. Companies actually create jobs for people- did you forget to mention that?

The purpose of a most businesses is to make money, employees facilitate the creation of wealth.

And what is wrong with that? why do employees work?

Who said there was anything wrong with that?

Most companies could pay their employees more and pass less wealth to the shareholders who are more often than not already incredibly rich. They don't because of greed.

So most share holders are already rich? Really. Have you researched this? I have had shares in a company or unit trust before, like a lot of people, but that does not make us rich!" Most companies could pay their employees more" how do you know this? paying employees more can sometimes mean making others redundant! And hoe much more do you have in mind? and if you don't do the overall financial accounting for a company, how would you know what the running costs and expenses are? When you next go to work as yourself why employees put up with being allegedly underpaid? Its not the shareholders who are cowardly like , for example, teachers and nurses, who willingly and knowingly put up with poor pay and working conditions!
And if you join a union you are wasting your money! At least 30 trade union leaders took home more than £100k in 2018! Add them to your current view of "shareholders"! You really need to think your ideas through a bit more!

But you should try starting a business first and then you would definitely understand why yiur argument is mistaken. It costs a lot on terms of time, effort, money to start your own business. And if you do so then you definitely deserve to pay yourself more than the worker! Who takes on all the start up costs and ongoing costs etc? Not the worker, but the worker gets a job! This does not equal exploitation does it? No.