The president and CEO of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum offered a tone-deaf defense of the nonprofit’s extravagant executive salaries this week, as The Post’s Page 1 expose stirred outrage that officials are exploiting the city’s greatest disaster.
“Our executive compensation lags well behind that of peer institutions,” Elizabeth Hillman said in an email sent to the foundation’s trustees on Monday, adding that “recent compensation studies have supported adjustments across the organization.”
But in the email, obtained by The Post, Hillman did not name any other institutions or cite specific compensation studies. Neither she nor the September 11 National Memorial & Museum returned queries last week.
But at least one insider confided to The Post they were disgusted by the eye-popping salaries.
“It leaves a sour taste in my mouth,” the source said. “Why are you guys making so much money off dead people?”
Last week, The Post revealed salaries at the non-profit have ballooned, even as it continues to run in the red and ignore the wishes of some families of first responders murdered on 9/11.
Hillman pocketed $856,216 in total compensation in 2024, according to IRS filings, a 63% raise in just two years.
The next four highest-paid executives made $486,298, $458,652, $444,999 and $432,958 in 2024.
