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Salary of $2.2M, Incentive pay of $3.5M, 165,563 shares of stok at that time selling for about $20 each, 500,000 stock options, + 75,000 shares of preferred stock. anotherwords, about $20M.. His $23M layoff package is slighly more than his yearly salary, ironic, so is the union wages and their layoff package.
Regardless, where was the outrage over using taxpayers money to buy out thousands of employees to leave?
Everyone needs their villian, CEO's make great targets
There is a very good reason for that - CEO's are the "captains" of their ship - they are certainly not shy about taking the credit (and huge bonus's when a company does well) so they should suffer accordingly when the company does poorly. After all, THEY chart the course, and ultimately, their companies' fates are THEIR responsibility. In the case of a car company, THEY set policy, THEY decide what direction the company is going to go in - whether that be to focus on small, fuel efficient cars or large gas guzzling trucks, THEY decide where to spend their R&D money, THEY decide where and how to spend their advertizing budget, THEY decide where and when and how to update plants, etc, etc, etc. Now, in truth, it's not always them directly making those calls - usually it's the executives heading up the various divisions that report to them, but the fact is, the CEO is the person most responsible for WHERE the companies goes and HOW it gets there - consequently when a company is run into the ground THEY are the ones who should be held most accountable. This is why there is outrage about failed CEO's getting large severance packages. They run the company into the ground with poor decisions, then get a hefty severance that's more than most folks make during their entire lives. If you are going to be paid sky-high amounts then you d*mn wall better deliver. That's why it's called "pay for performance". The problem is, all too often there is little to no "performance" involved - yet the pay is STILL sky high because the board of directors and the CEO's of these companies are watching out for THEMSELVES rather than for either the stockholders OR the employees - and in effect end up looting the companies and then driving them into the ground.
Somehow I doubt that Vega and his 60K job had much control over where the company ended up. Don't get me wrong - Vega DID play a part (as the union employees in general did) but as an individual, his part was small. Just as the President of the country gets most of the publics' blame in the case of the economic decline of the over the last year (when in fact the American public as a whole played a part as well (living beyond our means)), so the CEO of a failed company gets the blame as well - and for the very same reason. As an individual, who has the ability to set policy and thus is more likely to influence events - the unnamed "Joe Blow" or the guy steering the ship?
Ken
Last edited by LordBalfor; 04-01-2009 at 07:49 AM..
Do they get a percentage of their pay if they are fired? Yes, yes they do. Thats what a pension is.
Do you even have a clue about why the motor companies are having financial hardship? If you think he did such a terrible job, then explain to me why every single car company in the world is facing similar problems.. Its an industry problem, not tied to just GM
Some of us understand the Automotive industry intimately - Every single car company in the World is facing the same or similar problems currently being experienced by GM?
Some of us understand the Automotive industry intimately - Every single car company in the World is facing the same or similar problems currently being experienced by GM?
Interesting.
I've challenged posters here to name one large auto company that isnt facing economic problems. I note your response questioned my accuracy but didnt dispute it with facts..
I've challenged posters here to name one large auto company that isnt facing economic problems. I note your response questioned my accuracy but didnt dispute it with facts..
You didn't post a fact if your information is inaccurate.
I've challenged posters here to name one large auto company that isnt facing economic problems. I note your response questioned my accuracy but didnt dispute it with facts..
Um.... you did notice that the ENTIRE WORLD (and virtually ALL it's industries - aside from those that tend to thrive during down cycles) and not just the auto industry, are facing economic problems.
However, not all have faired so poorly as GM and Chrysler - and there are reasons for that. Some of them have to do with an overbloated union structure and an aging work force, and some of them have to do with extremely poor management decisions over an extended period of time and a public perception of inferior products.
While Toyota etc are definitely DOWN, they are not nearly in as much trouble as GM and Chrysler.
You didn't post a fact if your information is inaccurate.
Translation: Its ok to blame the CEO of GM for the problems of GM, even though the entire world is facing similar problems. Translation: You cant dispute the simple fact that all car companies are facing the same problem or you simply would have named ONE car company that wasnt..
Why even Lord below has confirmed that I'm right while at the same time argues I'm wrong..
Quote:
Originally Posted by LordBalfor
Um.... you did notice that the ENTIRE WORLD (and virtually ALL it's industries - aside from those that tend to thrive during down cycles) and not just the auto industry, are facing economic problems.
However, not all have faired so poorly as GM and Chrysler - and there are reasons for that. Some of them have to do with an overbloated union structure and an aging work force, and some of them have to do with extremely poor management decisions over an extended period of time and a public perception of inferior products.
While Toyota etc are definitely DOWN, they are not nearly in as much trouble as GM and Chrysler.
Ken
Thanks for confirming exactly what I said.. To simply blame one man for an economic problem that a company is having, even though other companies in the very same industry is having similar problems is ludicrous..
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