Macy’s execs get performance bonuses (!!!)

[villager]

Source: Cincinnati Enquirer

Macy’s execs get performance bonuses

By John Eckberg

A day after Macy’s executives announced lay-offs of 7,000 workers and cut a dividend in half, top company officials received a final installment on $1.39 million in performance bonuses from 2004.

The stock credit plan created in March 2004 brought five top executives “phantom stock units” or stock credits after a three-year holding period ended on Saturday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Tuesday.

Half of the incentive was paid in February 2008 with the remaining amount paid Monday.

Payments for stock credits and accrued dividends were as follows: Chief executive Terry J. Lundgren, $613,281; Karen Hoguet, chief financial officer, $192,742; Thomas Cole, chief adminstrative officer, $227,794; Janet Grove, vice chair, $227,794; Susan Kronick, vice chair, $227,794.

On Monday the company announced that swooning sales and poor earnings would bring thousands of pink slips to associates and reconfigure management of the company.


Read more: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090203/BIZ01/302030063/1055/NEWS

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Yes -- after the downsizing!

[Muttocracy]

1. This is one of those cases of recommending in disgust. nt

[dana_b]

2. me too

it's completely sickening. Yes, the bonuses were promised years ago but they didn't need to go through with them, especially at this time.

[AsahinaKimi]

23. Maybe its time to tie those

Executives to one of their Macy's Thanksgiving Balloons and giving them a ride down
34th street.. while threatening to let go of the ropes!! :sarcasm:

[dana_b]

34. haha!

perfect float to do it with too!

[OhioChick]

3. After laying off 7,000 employees???

Makes me sick.

Ummm.....Paging President Obama....where are you on this issue?

[Muttocracy]

8. at least they could have given each of the layoffs $200 instead. nt

[Juneboarder]

38. Seriously...

Obama needs to step up and regulate these corporate thugs and let them know that they DO NOT make the final decision when it comes the thousands of peoples lives versus their personal pocket books. Something's gotta give...:mad:

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

4. Yippie Skippy! Just when I read in the WSJ that Macy's was sucking!

Glad they were wrong! :sarcasm:

[DCKit]

5. If it's good enough for Wall St......

Wonder how the stockholders are taking the news.

"3rd floor, torches, pitchforks and waterboards."

[ChromeFoundry]

6. sickening.... sigh n/t

[bluestateguy]

7. Well, I won't be buying a Macy's gift certificate for Mom this year

nt

[6000eliot]

9. What happened to PERFORMING?

These are supposed to be PERFORMANCE bonuses, aren't they? People getting rewarded for doing bad jobs is one Bush era legacy that needs to END!

[Two Americas]

26. sadly

Sadly, eliminating workers and driving down wages is "performing."

The problem with those who have the wealth and power in this country, the executives and the Republicans and right wingers, is not that they won't do the "right thing," rather it is for whom they are doing the right thing. That will always be for themselves and for the other wealthy and powerful people. Always. That is how the game is played, and there is no option and no inclination and no incentive to do otherwise.

Why would they do the right thing for the people? They see the people as their enemies. The job is to keep us down and impoverish us, and they are doing a heckuva job. They are doing the right thing, just not for us.

[RollWithIt]

10. Illogical, actually, it's a carryover stock option, and since the company is now worth shit...

Those stock options are worthless. It's actually a preventative measure on the part of a corporation, here's your bonus, but you can't cash this stock for 4 years.... don't fuck it up. They did and if you do the math on Macy's stock in 2004 vs today, the executives lost a ton of money in that delay.

Macy's stock currently trades at EIGHT dollars. Four years ago it was in the high FOURTIES. Do that math.

[Igel]

13. Math?

Contracts?

Agreements?

Hey, we have outrage. We don't need no stinkin' math.

[NewJeffCT]

32. They've probably already made millions

So, sitting on some options for a few more years until the share price goes back up is likely no big deal for them.

[davidinalameda]

11. there needs to be a group or foundation or something

that buys stock in these companies and forces them to at least play by the rules or force these assholes out of power

these companies should not be laying off thousands of people while the top people makes hundreds of thousands in undeserved bonuses

[Two Americas]

24. easier solution

Revoke their government-granted charters to do business with no one responsible, and organize the workers.

Your plan perpetuates the system that will always and inevitably lead to abuse of the public and the workers.

Executives often get bonuses because they eliminate workers.

[davidinalameda]

54. what charters?

in the US, the government has little or no say in how businesses are run

and in a lot of these companies, the workers are unionized

you need oversight from a private group that controls the purse strings

government intervention won't always work

[Two Americas]

55. what do you think a corporation is?

A corporation is a privilege granted by the people through their government to people that allows them to raise capital and do business with no personal liability, while retaining the same rights that citizens have, in the form of a corporate charter.

Corporations historically were strictly regulated and monitored, because of the enormous potential for abuse, and the terrible damage that can be done to society.

Abuse by the British Crown corporations, which held most of the power in the colonies, was the cause of the American Revolution.

"Corporation" is not the same thing as "business" or "trade."

[emilyg]

12. Disgusting.

[jimmil]

14. Many years ago

Our company had a rather bad year. We lost $100 million that year. I brought up at the stockholders annual meeting, that the CEO got a $56 million bonus voted him by the BOD, and it was quickly passed over to more important matters. Later the more I dug into things the more I found absolute theft. Not only did the CEO get a $56 million bonus, the company bought a new Gulfstrean GV, sold it to a company that the CEO happened to own, and the plane was leased back to the corporation.

This sort of shit happens all the time in the rarefied world of big time corporate managers.

[pitchforksandtorches]

15. String up these mo fos naked!

N/T

[hughee99]

16. So they got the money based on performance in 2004

but didn't actually get paid the last installment until today. It's shitty PR and bad timing, but they "earned" the money (as much as anyone can "earn" that kind of money). It's not based on last year's shitty performance, it's a bill they knew would be due 5 years ago.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

17. yep, Wachovia did same thing - lay off thousands, gave Ken Thompson a $20+ million bonus

and Ken further ran the bank into the ground before he left with some more
nice bonuses.

[gauguin57]

18. These people have no shame. Why take that huge a bonus ... even if it were promised years ago ...

after 7,000 people lost their livelihoods. 7,000 households without a paycheck, and these folks are sitting fat and happy in their McMansions.

Fuck Macy's. See when I darken their fucking door again.

[wundermaus]

19. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It just gets funnier and funnier!
How big a baseball BAT does it take to get a jackass's attention?
Since I'm poor anyway it really doesn't matter that much to me -
BUT oh, gawd! for those of you that have lost your jobs, homes, retirement, savings, etc...
it must really SUCK to be you!
too, funny! to too tooo funny.
WACK!

[KakistocracyHater]

20. It's very 'Wall Street' & very Dickens

those people "at the top" they're true character is showing thru. Disgusting, arrogant, garbage-barge escapees.

[dogday]

21. Thank goodness they could lay off 7,000 people to satisfy one..

what the hell is wrong with this picture? One person's bonus is worth more than the work of 7,000 people... I have heard that everyone is expendable but this is ridiculous....

[Morivora]

22. What about the contracts?

So if those executives had been denied the payments, for the good of the 7000, would they have had legal ground to stand on in a lawsuit seeking their pay?

I wonder if boycotting a store because of job loss helps the situation much.

[MorningGlow]

40. What about all the people at other companies who've lost their pensions?

They had contracts. They were promised the money. And then the corporations said, "Oh. Yeahhhh. Not so much. Sorry." This shouldn't be allowed to stand, contracts or no. In times of hardship, EVERYone must make sacrifices, including the people at the top.

And welcome to DU! :hi:

[Morivora]

43. I'm not talking about other companies.

I'm wondering about what would have happened to Macy's if they had reniged on the executive's payments. Would they have been sued for that money, lost and ultimately had to pay MORE than they already have? Would it have resulted in even MORE than 7000 people losing their jobs?

I'm glad to be here, thanks!

[MorningGlow]

44. Right

The "commoners" who lost their pensions weren't allowed to sue in most cases (although Global Crossing employees filed a class action suit in '02 and won, but received a fraction of what their pensions would have been). It would be reprehensible if the execs tried to sue for their obscene bonuses. Then again, I wouldn't put it past them if it were feasible--they have the cash and the attorney-power to do it, if anyone does.

[tavalon]

25. The hits keep coming

Is there a good corporation out there?

[Two Americas]

27. why is anyone surprised?

They are doing what they are supposed to do, and they never pretended to do otherwise - maximize returns to themselves and the share holders. That means extracting the maximum wealth from the people by any means necessary, and keeping down or eliminating workers wherever possible. That is "success." Nothing surprising or unusual there.

[truthisfreedom]

28. Being a public company is very painful these days, huh Macy's?

I'm not going racing back there to buy anything soon.

[Optical.Catalyst]

29. I wish I was a rich Republican - I'd give myself a bonus too. n/t

[HughBeaumont]

30. Rewarding failure. And we do absolutely NOTHING about it.

It's amazing. Why are former employees not camped on their lawns demanding answers?

Why do we continue to waste a lot of time, give up a lot of money and bend over backwards far too much for an undeserving and way-overfed handful and get fired in return?

Why do we continue to put up with this instead of dragging them out of their houses and FORCE them to play ball for the greater good instead of for themselves?

[Christa]

31. The associates get commission only

I used to work for Macys in NYC and we were driven like slaves - treated to bad that I contacted human resources more than once. The execs are nothing less than slave drivers.

[NewJeffCT]

33. This has been a pretty common practice for the last 25 years

in corporate America. Sandy Weill (sp) of Citigroup did that several times in the early 90s before his then company of Travelers Insurance was acquired by Citi.

[GinaMaria]

35. Bring back Marshall Fields... Macy's sucks

They acted like the Chicago customer base should suck it up and shop there. Screw them. What a bunch of entitled bastards. Hope the store goes under.

[MorningGlow]

41. It does indeed suck

Crappy quality merchandise, and the last time I was in there, a couple of weeks ago (to return Christmas gifts), I had to endure the strangest, most surly staff I have ever encountered! It was truly weird. Plus they're always using bullying tactics to get you to open a store credit card. Oh sure, threaten me or belittle me and see how quickly I sign up. Jackasses. :eyes:

Now that I think about it, however, I should really spend the credit I got for those returns. I don't think the store is going to be around much longer either...

[spinbaby]

47. You found staff?

On my last trip to Macy's I wandered around in an apparently empty store with no help to be found anywhere. Eventually I discovered on my own that the food processor with the great price on their Web site cost about 30% more in their store. I bought it someplace else.

[MorningGlow]

49. ROFL! Rare, I know!

It wasn't easy, but they eventually turned up. I saw a total of three. One for the entire men's department (and he let me know it several times), one for women's sportswear (the bully), and one for half the entire upper floor (kids and women's underwear).

[GinaMaria]

53. There's always a plethora of people

ready to squirt you with something as your walk by. I had two returns after xmas. They would only give me store credit for one: not the cash so I could go buy what I want and the other return had to be done at a different counter :crazy: and that one they wouldn't give me store credit but instead took 5 weeks to mail me a check :crazy: I asked why there were two different return processes with different outcomes. I was told "That's what the computer says to do. It doesn't give me reasons"

I also have gift cards to use. I really hate it there. Very cheap merchandise,crappy quality, poor service. I really don't like them. Give us back Marshall Fields and Frango mints you retail hacks. They didn't know what they were getting into with the Chicago market. Fields spoiled us... unbelievable customer service, knowledgeable staff and generations have gone there to see Santa and eat under the big tree or look at the windows.

Marshall Fields used to be one of my happy places. I'd go and look at pretty china patterns or get a coffee and think about when my grandparents took me to see Santa. Booooooooo Macy's.

I have another happy place that is still around... LaVazza... great coffee and the whimsical spoon sculpture always makes me smile.

[glinda]

36. Executives should have to mandatorily spend a day with a struggling family or person.

To get a grip and a reality check.

[Tektonik]

37. Macy's sucks, if I'm gonna get something at a dept store,

I'm gonna save a little extra money and get something at Nordstrom's anyhow.

[SOS]

39. Macy's will file for bankruptcy this year.

Gotta rip off the cash before the ship sinks!

[BrightKnight]

56. .

[ehrnst]

42. Just emailed them through their website

And let them know that the bonuses for executives at the expense of those that actually do the selling is anything but incentive for me to shop there.

[bdamomma]

45. oh crap they just can't do without huh? what scumbuckets!!

class war is more like it.

They have theirs and damn everyone else. Can't it be more obvious.

[No Elephants]

46. These people have no shame, no consciences and no hearts. I do not wish them well.

[hisownpetard]

48. The very definition of "sociopath."

[BlueJac]

50. Just another day for the CEO's.....

It is not two Americas, it's two Worlds...WTF!

[bluesmail]

51. Every other exec got them. Hey why not?

:party: and.... sarcasm as if any one here thinks I'm series. (HA!) Serious. And yes, I am sickened by the billions paid to the robber barons.

[MadMaddie]

52. It just occurred to me that these massive

compensation packages may have directly hurt these companies abilities to stay afloat. These bonuses are rivals to the profit that these companies try to achieve.

Screw Macy's. Another store on my shit list.

[BrightKnight]

57. Do other countries have laws against executive plundering? - n/t