"Ms. Minow recalled in a telephone interview yesterday from her home in Washington that when she asked Global Crossing for a list of its board, the "first response was that they didn't have to give it to me because the company was incorporated in Bermuda." Why would a company based in Los Angeles, need to be based in Bermuda, she wondered."
One on 'Global (Double) Crossing, and one speaking of Li Ka-shing and Hutchison Whampoa.
1) Global Crossing Nears Agreement To Sell Its Local Phone Business - Credit Suisse First Boston, AT&T,
2) KPN, DoCoMo Unite in Bidding For Wireless Licenses in Europe - Telefonica, France Telecom, BID, Tyco,
Apparently the May 'Velocita' deal didn't work out (30 days)
This has to be May, 2000, unless, of course, we have a bunch of 'interlocking directorates'.
A few familiar names, and a couple on the management team link as well.
In early 2000, when Global Crossing was still flying high, Nell Minow posted a negative report about the company on her Corporate Library Web site.See also, from:It was the debut of the site (www.thecorporatelibrary.org), which evaluates corporate governance issues.
EXCERPT, TCL 1999 COMPANY RESPONSE REPORT:
Introduction by Nell Minow, Shareholder Activist and Co-Founder of The Corporate Library
"...And none is worse than the contract of Robert Annunziata of Global Crossing, whose tenure as CEO ended on March 3, 2000, after just a year on the job. Mr. Annunziata created tremendous shareholder value. But the contract’s pay/performance link was weak. As the company's performance leveled off, Mr. Annunziata’s compensation did not diminish commensurately. According to Forbes, Global Crossing is “an Internet play with all the potential and risks that that entails.” The company needs a CEO whose contract is tied to those potentials and risks.
Instead, the contract included pay guarantees and perks that indicate a lack of oversight by the board. Just for showing up, he got a $10 million signing bonus and two million stock options at $10 a share below market. He got our favorite oxymoron – the “guaranteed bonus” of not less than half a million dollars a year. The make and model of the Mercedes the company would buy for him and his wife is spelled out in the contract. He got the use of the corporate jet for commuting until such time as he might find it appropriate to move. And to keep him from getting homesick, his family got first class airfare to come see him once a month. Including his mother." [view entire report...]