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Los Angeles Times – CEOs Cut Millions of Jobs Amid Coronavirus Yet Keep Lofty Bonuses
So far, top executives of many major U.S. corporations — including some at the very epicenter of the crisis — have mostly held on to their outsize pay packages after giving up some of their salaries.
Read More > 05.18.2020
In the News
Financial Times – Coronavirus Puts Top Executives’ Pay in the Spotlight
Many companies had already awarded shares and bonuses to executives in January and February, before the pandemic set in.
Read More > 05.18.2020
In the News
Agenda – Boards Face ‘Real Distaste’ on Pay Discretion
Performance goals set early this year by the boards of calendar-year companies may be largely irrelevant since the Covid-19 pandemic set the stock market spiraling and companies scrambling. As a result, boards may find it difficult to motivate and retain some executives, compensation consultants and attorneys warn.
Read More > 05.15.2020
In the News
Life Annuity Specialist – Ameriprise CEO Took Home Sweetest Pay Package Last Year
Ameriprise Financial CEO James Cracchiolo, who helped push the company further into more profitable life and annuity products last year, was rewarded as the industry’s top-earning CEO, according to proxy filings. Cracchiolo’s compensation was $24.5 million in 2019, down almost 5%. The company’s share price surged almost 60% over that period, about twice as much as the S&P 500 Index.
Read More > 05.15.2020
In the News
Agenda – Boards Risk Being ‘Tone Deaf’ on Director Comp
As proxy season approaches its climax next week, few boards have made decisions about how to approach equity grants that will be awarded to directors in conjunction with annual meeting dates. However, compensation consultants are warning about a failure to address the misalignment between the number of shares awarded to executives at the start of the year before the crisis impacted stock prices with the grants that will be made to directors in the coming weeks.
Read More > 05.15.2020
In the News
Agenda – Will Special Committees Prevail in the Pandemic?
Dividing duties across the full board has been the approach seen most frequently by Robin Ferracone, CEO of compensation consultancy Farient Advisors and a director on the board of pet insurance company Trupanion. She isn’t familiar with any boards that are relying on a small group of directors to take charge.
Read More > 05.15.2020
In the News
Bloomberg Quint – Musk on Cusp of $730 Million Award, Even After Tweet Tanks Stock
Not even a pandemic -- or a tweet -- can push Elon Musk off the path toward claiming the first piece of his moonshot pay package. Barring a sudden and massive plunge in the electric-car maker’s market value, its chief executive officer is poised to meet the final performance threshold needed to claim the first of 12 tranches as early as next week, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Read More > 05.15.2020
In the News
S&P Global – Why voluntary CEO pay cuts, while largely symbolic, matter in ESG context
CEOs and management teams at dozens of companies around the world are taking voluntary pay cuts as their companies lay off workers to cope with the revenue hit from the coronavirus pandemic.
Read More > 04.20.2020
In the News
Agenda – Don’t Let the Coronavirus Undermine Your Pay Programs
The global impact of the coronavirus on health is having extraordinary repercussions on business. While we cannot predict its ultimate effect on people and markets, history is clear that any major crisis upends the normal rules on executive compensation.
Read More > 03.30.2020
In the News
Agenda – Investors May Accept Discretionary Bonuses ‘Within Bounds’
Though the stock market’s tumble amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic is expected to hit executives’ pay, compensation experts are urging boards to avoid making drastic changes to incentive plans or targets. However, investors may be willing to accept that execs receive some amount of bonus compensation on the other side,…
Read More > 03.30.2020
In the News
S&P Global – Most Calif. companies now in compliance with board gender diversity mandate
Nearly all California companies have complied with the state’s new mandate to have at least one female board member by the end of 2019. Out of more than 560 companies reviewed, only 21 had no women on their board as of mid-February 2020, compared with the 123 companies that had…
Read More > 03.27.2020
In the News
NACD Directorship – ESG Reporting and Non-GAAP Measures Included in Incentive Compensation Plans
The debate over the purpose of the corporation continues, with some lining up behind the 2019 Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation and others behind shareholder privacy. The evolution of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues into metrics often highlights this schism, with institutional shareholders focused on…
Read More > 02.07.2020
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