Posted on 01/03/2007 3:49:14 PM PST by seacapn
(AP) Dogged by criticism of his hefty pay and his company's poor stock performance, Bob Nardelli abruptly resigned as chairman and chief executive of The Home Depot Inc. after six years at the helm of the world's largest home improvement store chain, the company said Wednesday.
But he didn't leave empty-handed: the Atlanta-based company said Nardelli would receive a severance package worth roughly $210 million, an amount decried by some lawmakers as a golden parachute that sends the wrong message to investors.
"It's a sign of being totally out of touch," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the incoming chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "They don't understand the extent to which they make the American public angry."
Frank said he would push for legislation requiring public companies to allow shareholders to have a say in compensation and severance for senior executives. At Home Depot's annual meeting last May, shareholder proposals to give investors a say on the CEO's pay and to restrict retirement benefits for senior executives were rejected.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Nardali drove the stock down. He was a quack.
Good! I hope this is only the beginning. There are many more, including Immelt at GE, that should also get the axe!
It must be nice getting almost a quarter billion severance package. Usually people getting fired don't get bonuses. Had he turned HD around or something like it, it might not be so ridiculous.
"It's a sign of being totally out of touch," said Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the incoming chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. "They don't understand the extent to which they make the American public angry."
Pot to Kettle: "You're black."
The American Public is more concerned with who is going to win American Idol.
I would note that a plank in the Green party platform is for groups of "workers" greater than 12- the group elects their foreman (foreperson).
Gotta protect those "workers"
Shades of Lenin.
HD people haven't been happy about the Bobster for some time.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
"The American Public is more concerned with who is going to win American Idol."
A MEN!!!!!
There, fixed it for you. :) Sad but true.
And don't let your butt stick to the toilet seat on the way out.
He's no fool for taking the money. Thats for sure.
I understand HD people being upset, but anytime I hear a politician talk about the "American People....." I start to hear "The Internationale" playing in the background.
Very few of these execs really deserve the pay they get. They get the pay because they have power within the organization, it's as simple as that.
No one can tell me, for example, that the hundreds of millions the Exxon CEO received were earned because the company made $10 billion. The company made $10 billion because the price of oil was up. It had nothing to do with the CEO.
Home Despot is a disgusting company to deal with.
I have a long terrible horror story about getting two doors installed...
I will NEVER buy as much as a carpet tack from that company.
"Very few of these execs really deserve the pay they get."
Who's to say? I can't fathom paying anybody a nickel to shoot hoops but those guys a re rich, too.
Thats right. Executive pay is way out of control. It seems that its a win win situation for them. Too much money is being wasted on these talking heads.
It sends an even worse message to employees.
To me, it should be based on how much MORE money they make for the company than what it would otherwise make (which by the way is what the classical capitalist economists would say it should be in a free market. They call it the "marginal product.").
I'll grant you that it's really difficult to determine that, but the point I'm making is that the numbers these guys get really have nothing to do with that no matter how you look at them. A company can lose a ton of money while the CEO makes off like a bandit. The Exxon CEO bases his shocking compensation package on what the company earned, as though it was totally his doing... No recognition for the fact that the market was just up. That's a profit that should go into the stockholder's pockets, for their foresight to invest in a market that is about to explode.
Like I said, the only possible explanation I can give for this is that the corporate laws are written to put control of the company in management rather than in the stockholders. Some states, especially Delaware, have made a fortune off of writing laws that are designed to give management more control vis a vis the shareholders. The end result is that management incorporates in DE, and gets to pay itself whatever it wants.
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