More substance on executive pay on the way
Posted on November 19, 2009 at 9:32 am
Bass Berry & Sims’ executive pay specialists say the Securities and Exchange Commission is getting serious about providing investors with more meat and less fat in 2010 proxy statements.
Parratt noted that there was too much discussion of the framework in which decisions are made and not enough insight into the reasons behind compensation policies and decisions. Therefore, for the upcoming 2010 proxy season, companies should present a thorough analysis of their compensation decisions, avoiding boilerplate and unnecessary information and instead providing the specific details of the actual decisions that were made.
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Economy freezes Cracker Barrel execs’ pay
Posted on October 23, 2009 at 2:30 pmThe compensation committee of Cracker Barrel’s board of directors in late July froze the salaries of the company’s top executives. It is more than likely they will not thaw out until 2011.
In response to the general economic downturn and upon the recommendation of management, the salaries of all Named Executive Officers were frozen effective July 29, 2009. The salary freeze remains in effect as of the date of this proxy statement. Accordingly, we expect that the base salaries of the Named Executive Officers during 2010 will be the same as those for 2009…
And in case you were wondering, yes, the execs’ bonus plans aren’t changing, either. Check out the full proxy here.
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I’m betting there are some hedge funds that beg to differ
Posted on at 7:46 am
Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg says he doesn’t think his plan to slash compensation at the country’s biggest banks will drive away key executives.
SEE ALSO: Turns out the mere threat pushes the big shots out the door.
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Hey, at least you’re not being Ken Lewis-ed
Posted on October 22, 2009 at 7:59 amReports say the Obama administration is planning to order companies who received billions in bailouts to slash the compensation plans of their top execs – as well as ask permission for just about everything but the sprinkles on their ice cream.
The pay restrictions for all seven companies will require any executive seeking more than $25,000 in special benefits — things such as country club memberships, private planes and company cars — to get permission for those perks from the government.
Oh, and don’t look for any sympathy from Cramer.
BofA’s Lewis to get nothing in ‘09
Posted on October 16, 2009 at 8:27 am
Outgoing Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis will cut a $1 million check to the company to repay his year-to-date compensation. Pay czar Kenneth Feinberg “suggested” Lewis not be paid anything this year after regulatory questions surfaced about his bank’s purchase of Merrill Lynch.
Loading ...Surviving Psych Solutions COO gets big raise
Posted on October 7, 2009 at 1:46 pmTo the victor the spoils: Psychiatric Solutions has hiked the annual salary of Chief Operating Officer Ronald Fincher by a quarter to $500,000. The raise took effect a couple of days after Terrance Bridges resigned his post as co-COO.
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First Acceptance wants options-for-shares swap
Posted on October 6, 2009 at 7:21 amAuto insurer First Acceptance wants its shareholders to approve a new incentive compensation plan that would replace more than 600,000 options that have been underwater for more than two years with restricted shares. The options’ average exercise price is $6.64; the stock (Ticker: FAC) hasn’t been above $5 since September 2007. That’s not good for executive talent retention.
Because of the continued challenging economic environment, we believe the Exchange Options are no longer effective as incentives to motivate and retain the members of our senior management. Furthermore, although the Exchange Options are not likely to be exercised as long as our stock price is lower than the applicable exercise price, the Exchange Options continue to impact our financial statements and have the potential to dilute our stockholders’ interests for up to the full remaining term of the Exchange Options, while delivering little or no retentive or incentive value and no opportunity to recapture value from the associated compensation expense, unless they are surrendered or cancelled.
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Cracker Barrel’s Bonus Plan B
Posted on September 21, 2009 at 1:30 pm
The compensation committee of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store’s board recently scrapped the company’s Long-Term Performance Plan because of “the volatile operating and economic environment.” Instead, the restaurant chain’s top six execs received a total of almost $1.5 million in “interim discretionary awards.”
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A perk of promotion
Posted on August 17, 2009 at 10:25 am
Newly named Corrections Corp. CEO Damon Hininger will take over Oct. 15, but got his first tangible reward from the job last Thursday in the form of an options grant worth more than $600,000. Shares of CCA (Ticker: CXW) are down more than 5 percent today.
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Think CEO salaries are too high?
Posted on August 11, 2009 at 8:12 am
Then chew on this executive compensation nugget from MTSU researchers.
Measured as a share of corporate earnings (after-tax profits), the S&P 500 CEOs share of earnings averaged about 2.4 percent over the entire 15 years from 1993-2007. … The CEO share of earnings generally rose from around 2.5 percent in the mid-1990s to a peak level of four percent in 1999 and, surprisingly, has trended downward since then, ending at a historically low level of about 1.6 percent of earnings in 2007.
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Pay details for new O’Charley’s chief
Posted on June 5, 2009 at 8:33 amJeff Warne’s promotion announced yesterday will bring him a 34 percent raise and comes with a 150,000-share option package. The 48-year-old’s contract has an initial term of three years.
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No raises for Tennessee Commerce brass
Posted on April 20, 2009 at 10:10 pmAs with a number of their peers these days, Tennessee Commerce’s directors have decided to hold steady on pay this year. Search for ‘base salary for 2009′ to see the numbers, then scroll down a bit to see that, based on their first-quarter warning, CEO Art Helf and his crew will have to make more than $1.80 per diluted share (Ticker: TNCC) to make their bonus earnings target for ‘09. In all of 2008, the bank earned $1.60.
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Opening up your books to the government
Posted on April 15, 2009 at 1:35 pmThe construction law team at Baker Donelson passes along word of proposed rule changes for government contractors, including one that will increasingly come into play due to the flow of stimulus funds. Among the planned new rules is a very public-company requirement for pay disclosure for companies doing a lot of business with the feds.
Additionally, contractors who receive at least 80% of gross revenues from Federal sources must report “names and total compensation of each of the five most highly compensated officers ….” This requirement only applies to contractors who receive $25 million or more in gross revenue from Federal sources.
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Ten mill less for CHS execs
Posted on April 12, 2009 at 10:15 pmThe board of Community Health Systems has reduced this year’s pool of equity awards for the hospital company’s top managers by almost a third to $28 million. Search for ‘in evaluating.’
Echoing a Conference Board survey from late last year, CHS says one of the reasons is “the likely shift by many companies towards full value awards and away from non-qualified stock options.” That’s what Tractor Supply is doing.
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CEO pay drops
Posted on April 3, 2009 at 8:44 amThe Journal says it’s only the second time since 1989.
This year, the pay backlash may have more bite. Many companies have already announced plans to cut, suggesting that CEO rewards may fall for a second year in a row.
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