Fired HP CEO Walks With $13M

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Wow, CEO for less than eleven months and you get $13,000,000 severance package? You and I would be lucky to get thirteen bucks and a swift kick in the ass. The sad part is the company's market value fell $40B with this guy at the helm and he still gets all that money. :(

Apotheker's parting package includes a $7.2 million severance payment and a $2.4 million bonus for his performance while he was CEO. He also will keep restricted stock currently worth about $3.7 million. The value of Apotheker's other stock awards will depend on how the company fares in the next few years, according to documents filed Thursday.
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It's all about what's in the contract. Even though he has taken HP to the dump, they still have to pay him and that sucks.
 
Can stock owners sue for something like this? I don't have any stocks in HP but I'd be pissed if I did.
 
Hmmm, think that is bad, then think back to Michael Ovitz! He had a short stint at Disney, did nothing of note and walked away with a lot of dough. Remember this was a while back so the $s were worth more.

From Wiki ...

"Ovitz resigned from CAA in 1995 to become president of the Walt Disney Company under chairman Michael Eisner. Ovitz quickly grew frustrated with his role in the company and vague definition of duties.[9] After a tumultuous year as Eisner's second in command, he was dismissed by Eisner in January 1997.[10] Disney shareholders later sued Eisner and Disney's board of directors for awarding Ovitz a severance package valued at $38 million in cash and $131 million in stock.[11] Later court proceedings reflect that Ovitz' stock options were granted when he was hired to induce him to join The Walt Disney Company, not granted when he was fired. The $130 million figure was an estimate by news sources of what his stock options might be worth. The court eventually upheld Disney's payment.[12]"
 
Really just reinforces how 'bonus' is just another way of saying 'We're helping the CEO avoid taxes on this, while he whines about having to pay historically low taxes on the tiny part we actually classified as salary on him.' Does anybody think you REALLY deserve BONUS pay in addition to normal pay when you ran the company down the drain? Nope. Thing is though that the 'bonus' pay is only classified that way so that it takes effect under capital gains taxes instead of income taxes and no matter how many millions you pay a guy he only has to pay 15% maximum. It isn't bonus pay anymore, it's just plain old regular pay. Nothing is a bonus if it's guaranteed that you'll get it no matter what happens.
 
CEO severance should be relative to the gross profit % inc/dec to the company in their tenure..

In this guys case, HP should send him a bill...
 
It's a crock of shit, but not nearly as bad as the golden parachutes that were handed out when the mega banks were bailed out.
 
Evil Juggalo said:
CEO severance should be relative to the gross profit % inc/dec to the company in their tenure..

In this guys case, HP should send him a bill...
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Should be a law. Running with that in your election platform would get a lot of attention.
 
How do I sign up to ruin a company and get paid a lot of money cause i can try my hardest :confused:
 
CEO is truly the best job in the world. No matter how absolutely shit you are at it, you're still guaranteed to make millions of dollars when you're fired.

Which brings me to the next nit-pick. If Meg Whitman doesn't play on reversing ANY of Apotheker's decisions, why the fuck was he fired in the first place? They claim they didn't like the direction HP was headed in, but their new CEO still plans on going down the same path Apotheker envisioned.

So what's the difference? :confused:
 
lol, that guy did more damage to HP than my insults could ever hope to. :p
 
Ualdayan said:
Really just reinforces how 'bonus' is just another way of saying 'We're helping the CEO avoid taxes on this, while he whines about having to pay historically low taxes on the tiny part we actually classified as salary on him.' Does anybody think you REALLY deserve BONUS pay in addition to normal pay when you ran the company down the drain? Nope. Thing is though that the 'bonus' pay is only classified that way so that it takes effect under capital gains taxes instead of income taxes and no matter how many millions you pay a guy he only has to pay 15% maximum. It isn't bonus pay anymore, it's just plain old regular pay. Nothing is a bonus if it's guaranteed that you'll get it no matter what happens.
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Bonuses are taxed hired than normal pay (at least for most individuals, I would assume this applies for CEOs). They are taxed like commission. So if you get paid a bonus in cash, you aren't skirting taxes.
 
Owners of common stock can vote on the company's board of directors. The board is the entity that determines the CEO's pay and benefits structure. Thus, a shareholder can punish bad board performance by "voting the bums out."

In reality, all the CEOs and all the board of directors of all major companies are all friends with each other, and so the cronyism and back-scratching runs wide and deep, and voting doesn't mean a damn thing. Even when the stock price plunges, that's no big deal, because the C-level executives probably sold their stock off way before the crash. It's always the regular shareholders (the ones who don't have any inside information) and the company rank-and-file that are left holding the bag when a CEO strip-mines a company's assets in order to buff up the superficials, leaving a hollowed-out core bereft of any tangible value.

That's corporate America.

All made possible by a fascist and captured American government, of course.
 
He totally got fired with that 13 million. He totally got the ban hammer.. just totally. Couldn't have been a harder, worse laydown of justice. Hands down. Nuh uh. Most hardcore firing ever.
 
r00t61 said:
Owners of common stock can vote on the company's board of directors. The board is the entity that determines the CEO's pay and benefits structure. Thus, a shareholder can punish bad board performance by "voting the bums out."

In reality, all the CEOs and all the board of directors of all major companies are all friends with each other, and so the cronyism and back-scratching runs wide and deep, and voting doesn't mean a damn thing. Even when the stock price plunges, that's no big deal, because the C-level executives probably sold their stock off way before the crash. It's always the regular shareholders (the ones who don't have any inside information) and the company rank-and-file that are left holding the bag when a CEO strip-mines a company's assets in order to buff up the superficials, leaving a hollowed-out core bereft of any tangible value.

That's corporate America.

All made possible by a fascist and captured American government, of course.
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EH, This is free market Capitalism at its best. If you have the money,you have the power. Its, what did they use to say, "Its the American dream, the American Way". Its pretty obvious now,nobody can dispute it.The reason so many of the world are busting down the wall to get here. To be the next CEO of any Corporation.
 
Ill take a million right now and they can avoid hiring me and firing me.
 
Ualdayan said:
Really just reinforces how 'bonus' is just another way of saying 'We're helping the CEO avoid taxes on this, while he whines about having to pay historically low taxes on the tiny part we actually classified as salary on him.' Does anybody think you REALLY deserve BONUS pay in addition to normal pay when you ran the company down the drain? Nope. Thing is though that the 'bonus' pay is only classified that way so that it takes effect under capital gains taxes instead of income taxes and no matter how many millions you pay a guy he only has to pay 15% maximum. It isn't bonus pay anymore, it's just plain old regular pay. Nothing is a bonus if it's guaranteed that you'll get it no matter what happens.
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No I'm sorry, this is wrong and overly simplistic. Bonuses are handed out at all levels of companies, although they do vary in size. They are used as a means to incentivize individuals to perform better, not shield them from taxes. I'm guessing you are one of those people that believes Warren Buffet actually paid fewer taxes than his secretary.

Now, why they would agree in contract to pay him a performance bonus when he brought the company worth down 40 billion is beyond comprehension.
 
Solidstate89 said:
CEO is truly the best job in the world. No matter how absolutely shit you are at it, you're still guaranteed to make millions of dollars when you're fired.

Which brings me to the next nit-pick. If Meg Whitman doesn't play on reversing ANY of Apotheker's decisions, why the fuck was he fired in the first place? They claim they didn't like the direction HP was headed in, but their new CEO still plans on going down the same path Apotheker envisioned.

So what's the difference? :confused:
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I guess after seeing what kind of rewards you reap for running the company into the ground, I'd stay that course too!
 
I guess this is why some lazy ass CEO couldn't care less to try at all. Even if they screwed up and gets fired, they would still walk away with something.
 
"$2.4 million bonus for his performance while he was CEO. "

Performance bonus? REALLY? What sort of "performance bonus" would I earn if I tanked a company's value by 40 BILLION! Same thing with the friggen banks that all went under. They all got massive "bonuses" for driving there company into the ground. The only "bonus" I would get these slimeballs is a boot in the ass as they walk out the door!

Here is a novel idea. Give them there bonus, then SUE them for 40 BILLION for fing the company up so badly!
 
jahsoul said:
It's all about what's in the contract. Even though he has taken HP to the dump, they still have to pay him and that sucks.
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Yet when other people have contracts (unions) and the government wants to change those contracts to suit their needs (Wisconsin) everyone is all over it.
 
Companies shouldn't make severance pay a definite figure because it doesn't encourage these idiots to do a good job. Base it on performance. You do a good job, you've earned a nice severance. You tank the company...sucks to be you. The idea of being able to lose it would be an incentive they may just understand.

Perhaps retirement, etc. should be based the same way...especially for politicians! We'd balance the budget by not having paying out ridiculous amounts of money to retired politicians who don't deserve it anyway. Just to the very few who actually do try to do right by the people would get a nice retirement. Of course we couldn't let them decide who did or didn't do a good job because they'd all have miraculously done a marvelous job. :rolleyes: The people would have to vote on it. I have a feeling that most would have little or no retirement when their term is up. I think Obama would owe! :p
 
Dan_D said:
I wish I could get that kind of cash out of being fired.
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Maybe once you are awesome enough to tank a company's value by 40 billion. Actually... I think any of us could do that. What makes these CEOs so special?
 
Well you can always try and send them your resume and do it for less :)

Find the politicians that are willing to do something about them :). Ooh wait there telling you that tax is bad for business :) .
 
$13m what a disgrace no wonder hp has been full of fail lately. ceos deserve 10-20 fold that!
/sarcasm
 
Comrades? What are you talking about?

This isn't someone who did well and is being paid exorbitantly, he did NOT do well and is being paid a ton because of the original contract and bad board of directors.

Evil Juggalo said:
CEO severance should be relative to the gross profit % inc/dec to the company in their tenure..

In this guys case, HP should send him a bill...
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And delay completion for 3 years to see if the company falls apart from malfeasance and they can't cash in on the inflated stock.
 
singe_101 said:
Comrades? What are you talking about?

This isn't someone who did well and is being paid exorbitantly, he did NOT do well and is being paid a ton because of the original contract and bad board of directors.



And delay completion for 3 years to see if the company falls apart from malfeasance and they can't cash in on the inflated stock.
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Stop counting other people's money, comrade.
 
What's funny is you guys think this is bad, but the CEO of CountryWide walks away with $161 million along with a mammoth tax payer burden and that's ok and legal.
 
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