Steve Bitterman and Genesis

Steve Bitterman, an instructor at Southwestern Community College in Iowa, was teaching his Western Civilization class the Old Testament from an academic standpoint. Like any good professor, he delved deeper into the story, much to the chagrin of some of his students.

1. Salesforce.com

Average total pay: $318,323
For: Senior Account Executive*
Best companies rank: 52

Salesforce.com goes to extremes to reward the top performers who have helped drive its growth. No wonder this online software provider tops this year’s list of best payers.

The sales force gets hefty bonuses. The biggest earners get to enjoy goodies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” — a $5,000 shopping spree offered during last year’s sales incentive trip to Hawaii. Since Tiffany doesn’t have a store in Kauai, Salesforce.com hired local carpenters to recreate one, shipped in $1 million in merchandise from surrounding islands, and hired a violin player, chef, and even Miss Hawaii to add ambience.

Not that they don’t spread the wealth around: Full-time employees receive a “Mahalo Bonus” (Hawaiian for “thank you”), twice a year — up to 140% of the target payout. And those lucky employees who’ve received stock have seen their shares more than double in value over the past year.

Would you take advice from these people?

Advice from celebrities should be taken with a grain of salt. How realistic can your world-view be when you live your life in a bubble? Still, many have written self-help and how-to books. None of them will likely ever come close to rivaling the highest-grossing advice book of all time. But there's clearly a market for them, even if they leave us scratching our heads.