By the numbers

CEOs’ pay envelopes were fatter than ever in 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis. It was an especially good year for a fellow named David Simon, CEO of real estate company Simon Property Group. His pay package rose to $137 million, an increase of 458 percent.

Which got The Buzz to thinking: What could he do with that kind of money?

Mr. Simon could give $100 gift cards redeemable at Seattle Premium Outlets, one of his company’s malls, to every Snohomish County resident — and still have enough left over to retain bragging rights over Ford CEO Alan Mullaly, whose pay package rose 11 percent to $29.5 million.

Or he could buy a grande Starbucks Frappucino for everyone in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, and his remaining earnings still would exceed those of the No. 2 CEO on the list, Leslie Moonves of CBS. ($68.4 million, up 20 percent).

Or he could present a $125 clothing voucher to every person living in poverty in his company’s home state of Indiana — with enough left over to exceed the 2011 salary of Boeing CEO W. James McNerney Jr. ($18.4 million, up 34 percent).

Now, if The Buzz were David Simon, we’d want our salary to be more like what typical Americans make ($39,300, up 1 percent). We’d simply accept his current rate of pay — $65,865 per hour — work about 35 minutes on Jan. 1 and knock off for the rest of the year.