> Only startups offering stock options to at least 80 percent of their workforce would be eligible for tax deferrals, and a company’s highest-paid executives would not be able to defer taxes on their stock under the legislation.
>In the United States, this approach impacts personal tax liability, because although stock and option grants are taxed at federal income rates, they may be exempt from some portion of payroll taxes (typically 7.65%) used to fund Social Security and Medicare.
They're still considered highly-compensated, just not through payroll.
$1 salaries is because they get paid through a complicated structure that eventually means they owe capital gains tax (20%) instead of income tax (40%).
Is this why I keep seeing nominal $1 salaries?