If you were the CEO of one of the most powerful companies in the world for a decade and, during that time, presided over the destruction of nearly all of the company's shareholder value and put the company in a position where it required a government handout to avoid bankruptcy, how much would you expect to receive after you retired?If you worked at a normal company, you'd get zero. And you'd get sued. But at General Motors (NYSE: GM), Richard Wagoner will leave the company with $20 million in pension benefits and $535,000 in deferred compensation.
Of course that pension could be reduced in a bankruptcy scenario, but that's not the point. If Mr. Wagoner has any class at all, he'll announce that he is giving back the pension benefits to allow the company to repay taxpayers and provide for employees who will lose their jobs because of bungling in the executive suite.
The ludicrousness of the $20 million pension is made even more inane by the $2.1 million cash salary that Wagoner took home, possibly the least-earned $2.1 million in the history of the world.
A GM spokesperson told (subscription required) the Wall Street Journal that the final terms of Mr. Wagoner's separation have not yet been determined, and declined to comment beyond that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-31-2009 @ 11:11AM
Duke said...
Your right. Wagoner should give his $20 million back. He was Mr. GM and loved GM. So if Wagoner loves GM that much, let him show it by sacrificing like he wants the rest of the company to do.
3-31-2009 @ 2:00PM
UAW LIVEON said...
Hey Wagner you wan to buy my 36 dollar a share GM stock????? Come on you got 20 million the workers got the shaft. Wall street and CEO's come out smelling like fresh roses and the shit rolls down hill as always. Thank Gietner or what ever you name is.