Top of the Order:

Getting By On … $13 million: Nobody likes to take a pay cut. Even it ends up leaving you taking home only $13 million.

But, that’s what Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff did. Benioff took a 60 percent pay cut in Salesforce’s recently completed 2017 fiscal year from the $33 million pay package he received in the prior year, due to Salesforce implementing new guidelines for the CEO’s pay structure. Salesforce disclosed Benioff’s compensation in its annual proxy statement that the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

While Benioff is Saleforce’s founder, and the face of the cloud-based software company, his annual pay packages haven’t lately been unanimously approved by shareholders. Business Insider noted that 60 percent of Salesforce share owners gave their OKs to Benioff’s salary at the company’s annual meeting last year, which was up from 52 percent in 2015.

This year, Benioff will receive a base salary of $1.55 million, but his other compensation will be more closely tied to Salesforce’s performance.

The company also said it wouldn’t continue to foot the $1.5 million bill it paid last year to protect Benioff, and now it will be up to the CEO to cover that cost.

Middle Innings:

And In This Corner: It’s no secret that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wants to kill off the net neutrality rules enacted during the Obama administration. Pai’s reasons for doing away with net neutrality stem from a belief that the rules were put in place as a power grab, and that the regulations hamper companies’ interests in putting new investment dollars into internet infrastructure.

The net neutrality rules say that internet service providers shouldn’t unreasonably discriminate against particular internet sites or services. That has been spelled out in three big prohibitions: Broadband providers are barred from blocking, throttling or prioritizing for a fee access to particular sites and services. Under the rules, providers are also required to disclose how they manage their networks.

So, what do those opposed to Pai’s efforts to stop net neutrality have to say about the matter? They say that if the FCC wants to stifle innovation, doing away with net neutrality would be a start.

The Don and Elon Show?: Well, that how some folks in the Bay Area view Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s willingness to work with the administration of President Donald Trump. Some think Musk is right to remain close to the president and provide advice as a member of two of Trump’s business advisory boards.

And then you have the likes of investor Doug Derwin. Have you seen the electronic billboard along Highway 880 North in Milpitas? The one that says, “Elon: Please Dump Trump”? Derwin paid for that, and has put $1 million of his own money into a $2 million campaign to urge Musk to cut ties with the president.

Well, when money is no object, you can spend it on whatever objects you want, right?

Bottom of the Lineup:

Here’s a look at how some leading Silicon Valley stocks did Thursday.

Movin’ on Up: Gains came from Ultra Clean Holdings, Intuit, Xilinx, ShoreTel and RingCentral.

In the Red: Decliners included Netgear, Harmonic, Accuray, Glu Mobile and 8×8.

The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.4 percent to 6,048.94.

The blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up by 6 points to 20,981.46.

And the broad-based Standard & Poor’s 500 Index was almost unchanged, rising just 1.3 points to end the day at 2,388.77.

Quote of the Day: “The 300-pound robot named K5 spins and occasionally whistles, so it’s hard to understand why someone would want to knock it down.” — ABC News, reporting upon allegations that a drunken man got into a “fight,” if you will, with a security robot in Mountain View, and put the robot down for the count in a recent altercation.

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