Apr. 23, 2008 – Elpida Memory’s top execs are taking their company’s financial position personally, reducing their salaries until the company gets back to operating profitability on a monthly basis.

Under the plan, president Yukio Sakamoto — who apparently proposed the idea to an in-house committee, notes the Nikkei daily — will take a 50% paycut, while full-time directors Shuichi Otsuka and Takao Adachi will each take a 10% reduction, and eight other corporate executive officers will see their salaries reduced by 5%.

Previous attempts to lower costs, notably a sale of 200mm equipment in early 2007, were not enough to offset worse-than-expected price declines, with a “significant” loss expected for the just-ended fiscal year — its first since it went public in late 2004. The Nikkei daily noted that seven Elpida directors are believed to have earned a combined ¥100M (US ~$970K) in fiscal 2007.