Fired from Yahoo after 15 months: Up to $109 million payout

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

Yahoo's former No. 2 executive could end up collecting an eye-popping $109 million for his 15 months on the job, an executive pay firm estimated Thursday, despite being ousted this week amid signs the company is still struggling to achieve a financial turnaround.

The generous pay and severance package for ex-Chief Operating Officer Henrique de Castro, who was hired by CEO Marissa Mayer to help rebuild Yahoo's declining ad business, would represent one of the biggest golden parachutes Silicon Valley has ever seen -- bigger than controversial payouts given to previously ousted senior executives at Yahoo, Hewlett-Packard and other companies.

... But some corporate governance experts are already saying it's too much.

"I think it's atrocious. It makes absolutely no sense for shareholders," said Eleanor Bloxham of the Value Alliance, an independent board and executive advisory firm. She said Yahoo's board "really needs to step up and look at how they reward top executives."

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_24929825/departing-yahoo-exec-may-collect-up-109-million

[madrchsod]

1. a bit of advice to yahoo...

use a temp service the next time. actually yahoo is another dinosaur that hasn't realized it is going extinct.

[russspeakeasy]

2. + 1

[rhett o rick]

3. Share holders are idiots. nm

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. Don't worry. The invisible hand of the free market should be along shortly to protect shareholders.

[rhett o rick]

23. The free market "hand" is invisible because it's in the shareholders' back pocket. nm

[DBoon]

26. The free hand is invisible because it exists only in libertarians' imagination

It's sort of like the tooth fairy in that way

[babylonsister]

4. Should have been me. nt

[jeff47]

5. I humbly offer my services to screw up for 15 months for only $50M. (nt)

[Ohio Joe]

15. Wait... I'll screw it up just as bad in only 12 months for $60 mil

Hey... You never know

[FSogol]

20. Don't be silly, you obviously weren't in that fraternity at that exclusive school.

Duh.

[spin]

6. Some say you have to pay an enormous amount to find a good executive for a company. ...

I suspect from my experience that it is quite possible to find a person who can do as good a job as most high payed executives for far less.

Many current executives work to improve a company's short term profits and use their success to move on to another executive position. They have little real interest in the long term future of the company and its success. They often shave cost by cutting employees and asking far too much from those who remain. The result is a decrease in employee morale and eventually the product or services the company produces suffers. That doesn't bother the executive as he has usually moved on by that time using his brief success to land a better job.

Perhaps companies might be wiser to hire an high ranked executive for a lower salary and base his pay increases on how well the company does in five, ten or twenty years. If that was done the executive might realize how valuable good employees were to his success and do his best to insure that such individuals were well paid and had high moral.

The short term profits might be minimal but over the long term the company might well out pace its competition and lead in its field. Well qualified people would be very willing to hire on to such a company as it would develop a reputation as a great place to work.

The large corporation I used to work for before I retired was bought out by another company. This company and the "bean counters" did their best to maximize profits by treating the employees as replaceable slaves. Things were rapidly going down hill before I retired and yesterday I got some emails from co-workers who were still there and which said that the management is largely incompetent and consequently the morale is terrible and the quality of the product had decreased.

The two individuals who emailed me were caught in the bind caused by the Great Recession. Jobs are hard to find and you may hate your job and the management, but it beats not having a job.

Sooner or later the Great Recession will end. When it does, good employees will be hard to find. By that time the company I worked for may well have a reputation as a "hell hole" and will be unable to find well qualified employees. Obviously when that happens the company may decide to change its policies and pay and treat the employees better but it may too late.

I never wished to be a high level executive as climbing up the corporate ladder usually requires a lot of "brown nosing" which is another major problem in corporate America. For example I don't have any wish to chase a small ball across a long field but golfing was almost a requirement in order to advance and survive. The best "ass kisser" had a big edge over the best worker.

[dionysus]

9. hey, i play golf, and i'm almost broke... can i get millions for it?

[spin]

22. I don't know about millions but I do know a guy who worked at the company I worked for ...

before I retired.

He was a good worker with a good personality and he enjoyed golfing. Unfortunately he got laid off from my company.

He went to work for Home Depot and went golfing with the brass. The last I heard he was managing his own store.

[dionysus]

24. damn, man, i'm a remote worker but maybe i should play golf with the bosses on my yearly

trip to the office!

I'm a 10 handicap, hardly a good player tho

[bluesbassman]

7. Assuming he worked 365 days a year (he didn't) that's almost $240,000 a day.

For essentially producing nothing.

We live in a bizzaro world.

[LittleBlue]

8. Mayer is next

And she's setting the precedent for an even more massive payoff for herself. IMHO this is how business works.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. "company is still struggling to achieve a financial turnaround"

Gee, I wonder why

[BrotherIvan]

13. My thoughts exactly!

What a bunch of maroons! Add to that the new CEO who screwed her workers instantly for a nice helping of negative publicity, and this company will be the next AOL. But what does this guy care? He's probably bathing in champagne right now.

[Initech]

11. Could these companies be struggling because of obscene executive payouts?

Anyone ever make that correlation?

[nyquil_man]

14. Here, have a big sack of cash for being incompetent.

I'm sure you've learned your lesson.

[GeorgeGist]

16. Sounds like the wrong person might have been fired.

[DrDan]

17. not that unusual

since 2000, there have been 21 CEOs who received golden parachute over $100M

http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/corpgov/2012/02/26/examining-the-largest-golden-parachutes/

[CFLDem]

18. God Bless America!

USA USA USA



(obviously)

[Le Taz Hot]

19. So, raise your hand if you were given a BONUS

after being fired from a job. Not severance pay but a BONUS.

Anyone?

[HughBeaumont]

21. More like The Invisible Fist of the Greed Racket.

. . . . . (finger wags) Remember! Class warfare . . . Envy . ... Bootstraps . . . . Can't help the wage earner by hurting the wage payer . . .. Trickle Down . . . It's either this or North Korea . . . Job creators . .. . Rising tide lifts all boats . . .

Did I leave anything out??

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. Here's something funny about this to keep in mind...

That payout was the result of a contract.

That person worked under a contract.

Now, it seems to me that entirely too many workers in this country do NOT work under a contract.

It also seems to me that entirely too many executives that DO work under a contract, are damned well determined to makes sure the rest of us do not.


Curious, isn't it?