Posted on 04/14/2006 1:20:10 PM PDT by aShepard
April 14, 2006— Soaring gas prices are squeezing most Americans at the pump, but at least one man isn't complaining.
Last year, Exxon made the biggest profit of any company ever, $36 billion, and its retiring chairman appears to be reaping the benefits.
Exxon is giving Lee Raymond one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including pension, stock options and other perks, such as a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes.
Last November, when he was still chairman of Exxon, Raymond told Congress that gas prices were high because of global supply and demand.
"We're all in this together, everywhere in the world," he testified.
Raymond, however, was confronted with caustic complaints about his compensation.
"In 2004, Mr. Raymond, your bonus was over $3.6 million," Sen. Barbara Boxer said.
That was before new corporate documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that revealed Raymond's retirement deal and his $51.1 million paycheck in 2005. That's equivalent to $141,000 a day, nearly $6,000 an hour. It's almost more than five times what the CEO of Chevron made.
"I think it will spark a lot of outrage," said Sarah Anderson, a fellow in the global economy program at the Institute for Policy Studies, an independent think tank. "Clearly much of his high-level pay is due to the high price of gas."
Exxon defends Raymond's compensation, pointing out that during the 12 years he ran the company, Exxon became the largest oil company in the world and that the stock price went up 500 percent.
A company spokesman said the compensation package reflected "a very long and distinguished career."
Some Exxon shareholders are now trying to pass resolutions criticizing the company's executive pay policies. The company is urging other shareholders to vote against those resolutions.
Many are clueless about it. Right ConTex?
As I've often said, there's something about gasoline that turns otherwise reasonable people into raving Marxists.
Explain why the additives right now, that have happened for a long long time, mean the gas is over 2x what it was when the same situation was happening 6 years ago?
Whoops, sorry!
OK, Freepers are somewhat more conservative than the average ABCNews reader. That restores my faith in my fellow freepers. :-)
well, that's the point. what I think doesn't matter a lick. I didn't hold the job, I don't get the checks, I have no say whatsoever.
In my opinion, however, it's a triumph of liberty that this ceo is answerable with regard to his salary only to his board of directors and not some Ministry of Compensation staffed by people who think they are fit to be arbiters of what "fair" is with regard to another's enterprise.
The worldwide spot market for refined gasoline is $2/gallon. Add in the taxes (18.5 federal,,,about the same state,,,and local, city county) and you have about 50 cents....are you with me so far?
that's more accurate. ;)
I guess you would turn it down so that your fellow man would not think badly of you?
This abuse of financial power's gonna cost the GOP a lot more (as if they needed to lose more right now) support.
I hope you're happy about that. Joe Middleman IS going to see this and think 'well, the GOP's in charge.. My gas is WAY up in price. This guy runs off with $400m.. HMMM'
He's gonna stay home or vote Dem. Hope you like that outcome.
The recent change by law from MTBE to ethanol adds about 20 cents per gallon. That makes it about $2.70...still keeping up?
The whole ethanol issue is very, very interesting. Okay, MTBE had to go because it's nasty stuff. But we're not quite there in terms of the switch over.
The ethanol switch isn't like substituting margarine for butter in a recipe. It's more like switching from apple pie to layer cake.
Ethanol has to be transported differently than the other additive. It has to be stored differently. And it has to be mixed in differently. This slows down the whole production process.
High gas prices along with high energy prices is a huge problem for the GOP...
I'll assume you are. The additional 20 cents is because ethanol sells for $2.50 per gallon. So if you have to add ethanol (at 10% volume),,well,,you do the math.
I would agree, it is nothing more than a stockholder issue.
The additional 20 cents per gallon is because the proper infrastructure for ethanel is NOT in place. It must be transported by truck or rail car and not by pipeline,,because of its vapor point. (For you know who,,,that means evaporation)...the govt MANDATED IT,,without having proper transport for it.
Contex, a guy's pay -- in America, anyway -- is not a government issue, that is to say, not a political issue. This line of reasoning is a better argument for the left (what most people mistake for democrats) than they could give on this site. Get with it, man.
Best estimates (by people a heck of a lot smarter than me...and DEFINETLY smarter than you-know-who) estimate that the ethanol costs will be even 20 cents higher by the end of the summer. CAPICE?
"The reason that gas sells for nearly same amount is that it is nearly the same product from one station to the next and there is no practical difference to the consumer. Since they all advertise their price on large signs, any store which sells for a lower price gets more customers. The result is that all area stores quickly equalize prices to the lowest amount which is still high enough to make a profit."I think he just described an efficient commodity market!You've just defined price fixing.
You're already complaining about the price, but are you willing to pay the extra .10 to .20 a gallon more for "Full Service"? I remember when self-serve came along and everyone was elated to pay a dime less and pump their own gas.
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