Chambers Takes One (Dollar) For The TeamChambers Takes One (Dollar) For The Team

Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers has cut his pay to $1 a year and will donate the difference to some of the employees hardest hit by Cisco's reversal of fortune.

It's a "symbolic" gesture, says a Cisco spokeswoman. Chambers' previous salary was $323,319. His total compensation, of course, includes stock options and bonuses that are potentially worth many millions of dollars. Whether his options and bonuses will be affected by Chamber's decision remains unknown, says the spokeswoman.

The money will go toward paying salaries for those workers who would've been laid off but were experiencing extraordinary hardship. Says the spokeswoman, Chambers will not know who'll be the beneficiaries of the donations.