Health Care CEO's Lavish Pay Package Shows How the 1% Get Paid

[FreakinDJ]

John Hammergren, the CEO of health-care giant McKesson Corp., made $46 million last year thanks to one of the most generous executive pay packages in his, or any other business. Gary Rivlin of The Daily Beast has a breakdown of some of the outrageous provisions that contribute to Hammergren's outrageous wealth including some figures that at least one compensation consultant calls "excessive." When someone whose job is to craft multi-million dollar pay packages for corporate CEOs thinks you're overpaid, you're probably overpaid.

Hammergren is not the richest or even the highest-paid CEO in the world, but the structure of his compensation is raising eyebrows even in the already outsized world of the 1%. He took over McKesson, a firm that specializes in supplying presrciption drugs to pharmacies, in 1999 after a fraud scandal took out of many of the company's top executives. Since that time he's been paid nearly $500 million as the CEO and Chairman of the Board.

His salary is a modest $1.66 million a year, but he also gets annual cash bonuses of between $10 million and $13 million. His perks are many and lavish, including a company car and chauffeur, unlimited personal use of the firm's corporate jet, and a generous pension plan not available to rank-and-file employees. (Their pension program was canceled in 1997.) Last year, McKesson contributed $13 million to Hammergren's retirement fund, which if he walked away tomorrow, would be worth $125 million.

Then there's the stock grants and options, a standard form of compensation at most corporations, but one that McKesson has used with reckless abandon. Hammergren owns $129 million in McKesson stock, plus another 1 million in options that have yet to vest. (In 2011, he received $12 million in stock and another $7 million worth of options in his pay.) Oh, but don't worry. According to Rivlin, the company paid him $483,000 last year to make up for the dividends Hammergren didn't earn because he doesn't own the stock yet.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2012/01/health-care-ceos-lavish-pay-package-shows-how-1-get-paid/46881/

[xchrom]

1. Du rec. Nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. That $500M would hire 10,000 people @ $50K for a year.

Insanity.

[Cresent City Kid]

11. And they say minimum wage increases cost jobs

They defend these garish compensation packages with the "best & brightest" argument, but they're not 500 times better or brighter.

[hobbit709]

3. Can he see his reflection in the mirror?

Or is he a nontraditional bloodsucker?

[Zalatix]

5. LOL!!! Good one

[Blue_Tires]

4. That's why I said two years ago that any healthcare reform

which DIDN'T put those corporations out of business was doomed....

[AnotherMcIntosh]

6. With the mandated purchase of health insurance, more such pay packages should be available.

[Lurks Often]

7. McKesson is a drug company, not a health insurance company. n/t

[girl gone mad]

10. They'll be getting their cut, don't worry.

Taking millions of dollars out of the pockets of middle class Americans and stuffing them into the coffers of the health care industry will be a boon to drug companies.

[dotymed]

8. Just another reason why

universal health care is the only answer. To imagine that this world (inhabited by billions) was intended for the enjoyment of a very few people is absurd. Unregulated capiitalism and for-profit health care are unjust. Only we the people, through massive demonstrations can hope to change the status quo that is destroying our world.

[RC]

9. How many people died or were permanently disabled by being denied health care to come up with that

much money to pay just one person?

[Ikonoklast]

12. MBA's will destroy businesses in this country.

The trend line for executive compensation is unsustainable.