Why is fired GM leader getting more money?
Is firing someone, but handing him $23 million as he walks out the door, really a punishment? That’s the question left in the wake of Rick Wagoner, the man who was the CEO of General Motors until he was given his walking papers by the Obama administration.
Everyone seemed to be celebrating the fact that finally one of those high-flying corporate CEOs was given the boot. After the Obama administration let those banking and AIG guys ride along with their outrageous and nonsensical bonuses, the feds finally did what needed to be done with GM.
But wait, what’s all this about a “pension payout”?
That’s right. Wagoner was handed a $23 million golden parachute just for screwing up the company and subsequently getting fired. (That’s the job to get – one that will pay you to be fired!)
According to published reports citing GM’s annual report, here is what Wagoner’s gift-for-failure will include:
· An accumulated pension of $22.1 million
· Stock awards worth $367,000
· Deferred compensation of $535,000
Deferred compensation? Why is this guy getting ANY compensation for being fired?
Of course, Wagoner’s supporters are rallying to his side, saying GM is legally bound to pay it out because it’s in his contract.
Wait a minute. This was the same argument the administration – in the form of Director of the White House National Economic Council Lawrence Summers – tried to make about those AIG “retention bonuses.” And a day later, President Obama did a 180 and said he would do everything possible to make sure taxpayer money wasn’t frittered away as supposed “bonuses” to corporate ne’er-do-wells.
At a time when workers are being told that they need to reconsider their contracts in order to save the companies they work for, these corporate bandits should be told the same, legal contracts be damned.
And if GM is getting all this federal bailout money, the now-fired former CEO shouldn’t be getting $23 million of company funds. He should get exactly what he deserved for leaving GM in ruins.
