by Kimberly Weisul
It may sound like a punchline: Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia paid $29,538 in 2010 for Ms. Stewart's personal trainer. But, it's true--and it's not the most outrageous executive perk, either. YOU NEED TO PROVIDE LINKTO STEWART REFERENCE
Between Enron and the financial crisis, you'd think companies would be cutting back on the lavish benefits they offer their CEOs. And indeed some have: Comerica capped INSERT LINK AND WHAT KIND OF PERKS DID THEY CUT, INCLUDE LINKS TO EACH REFERENCE OF A PERK. CEO Kenneth Chenault's private travel to $200,000 a year. Given that he racked up $400,000 some years, that counts as cracking down. Stryker, a medical equipment maker, no longer pays the HOW MUCH A YEARcountry club dues for its CEO, Stephen MacMillan. LINKS PLS
But perks like Stewart's are still plenty common. Given the generous pay packages LINK PLSmost CEOs receive, even perks that don't seem particularly expensive can still be symptomatic of a board's refusal to say "no" to a CEO that sees him or herself more as royalty than as a servant leader. Which makes a shareholder wonder: what is that same board going to say when a really important issue comes up? YOU NEED TO SAY WHERE THIS SLIDESHOW DATA COMES FROM--DID YOU CULL MOST EGREGIOUS PERKS FROM SURVEYS FROM X AND Y, OR FROM ONE PLACE? WAS 2010 A RECORD YEAR? OR JUST STARTLING BECAUSE SO LITTLE HAS CHANGED? WHAT"S OVERALL TREND
Click here for to find out which CEO got more than $500,000 in help preparing his tax return--gratis.
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
More than $500,000 in tax prep help
Occidental Petroleum's former chief executive, Ray Irani, makes frequent appearances on lists of best-paid CEOsCONFUSING, HOW CAN HE BE ON BEST PAID LIST IF HE"S NO LONGER CEO—but his noncashSHD THIS BE HYPHENATED, PLS CK compensation is pretty impressive too. In 2010, Occidental paid $391,107 forIRANI'S PERSONAL financial PLANNER? planning advice for its CEO and an additional $556,470 for tax preparation services. Yes, that's more than half a million just to file Irani's taxes. Given that Irani made more than $76 million that year, is it really too much to ask him to shell out for his own financial advisor?
NEEDS LINK
ALSO DID ANYONE GET UPSET ABOUT THIS, AND WHAT WAS HIS RESPONSE? OR THE COMPANY'S RATIONALE?
Irani WHEN DID HE RETIREhas since retired from his post as CEO, but he remains with the company as a full-time board member and executive chairman, EARNING HOW MUCH?.
Click here to see who got a $2 million birthday party
Image courtesy of flickr user mikebaird
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
A TK COST Birthday Party--On Company Expense
SAY IN THE INTRO SLIDE THAT THESE ARE THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS PERKS OF 2010 OR IN RECENT YEARS? IN THE LAST DECADE, EXPLAIN WHAT TIME FRAME
When former Tyco CEO Dennis Koslowski's second wife, Karen Mayo, turned 40, he wanted to give her a party she would always remember. He threw a week-long party on the island of Sardinia, complete with toga'd models, an ice sculpture carved to resemble Michaelangelo's David that dispensed vodka from its penis, and chariots. Performer Jimmy Buffett and his entourage were said to have been flown in at a cost of about $250,000. The bash cost $2 million, and Tyco picked up half the tab.
LINK
SEE IF YOU CAN GET AN IMAGE OF SOMETHING OUTRAGEOUS FOR THIS...IF NOT LET ME KNOW
Koslowski also famously billed Tyco $6,000 for a shower curtain, but the company didn't intend that as a perk, and claimed the Tyco CEO had cheated the company.
DIDN"T THIS LAND HIM IN JAIL THOUGH? SO DO YOU WANT TO INCLUDE LEGAL AND ILLEGAL PERKS? THEN SAY THAT IN THE INTRO SLIDE. I THINK YOU SHOULD STICK WITH LEGAL PERKS AND BEST TO INCLUDE IN 2010, UNLESS YOU CAN"T FIND ENOUGH GOOD ONES
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
The $1.2 Million Office Remodel
When John Thain left Goldman Sachs to become CEO of Merrill Lynch in 2007, his new offices obviously weren't up to his old standards. He went on a $1.2 million redecorating spree, sprucing up his office, reception area, and two conference rooms. He picked up a pair of guest chairs for $87,783 and a 19th century credenza for $68,178.
Unfortunately for him, news of Thain's remodeling came to light just after the U.S. government bailout of some of the country's largest banks. Thain said he would reimburse Merrill Lynch, calling the renovation, "a mistake in light of the world we live in today." As if just a few years earlier, a $1.2 million renovation at shareholder expense would have been perfectly reasonable.
DID HE GET BOOTED AFTER WARDS< BECAUSE OF THIS?
IF YOU INCLUDE THIS, YOU NEED TO SAY IN THE INTRO THAT SOMETIMES THESE PERKS ENRAGE NORMALLY PLACID SHAREHOLDERS AND REGULATORS AND HAVE RESULTED IN GETTING FIRED< ETC...
Click here to see which CEO may singlehandedly spurred regulators to ask for greater disclosure of executive perks
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
Jack Welch--In a League of His Own
Jack Welch's reputation as one of the best corporate leaders would seem secure. But the former GE CEO has another legacy—stepped-up disclosure rules for companies and the perks they lavish on their top executives.
Welch's perks were thought to be run-of-the mill—until his ex-wife proved otherwise in a court filing related to the couple's divorce. There, she listed the impressive perks GE had provided: staff, fresh flowers, and wine for Welch's New York apartment, floor-level seats for Knicks games, a sky box for Red Sox games, VIP seating at the French Open, and country club memberships.
Then there was access to the corporate plane, helicopter, and car service. In the resulting barrage of criticism, Welch, saying he had a 'perception problem,' asked the board to remove all of these perks. DID THEY?
Looking for someone else to pick up your bar bill? Click here to see which board you should try to join
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
$5,000 Worth of Booze
If you want to get on a corporate board, think about approaching UST Inc., which sells tobacco and wine. First, directors there get a $200,000 allowance, which is pretty good for what is essentially a part-time job (very part-time—sought after directors commonly sit on several boards, while maintaining high-level executive positions at their own companies). But directors at UST get a special perk—a $5,000-a-year wine allowance.
Former CEO and chairman Vincent Gierer Jr. is either a heavier drinker than most board members or has more expensive tastes—he got $6,500 to spend on wine. The company says the wine allowance is to "foster the use of the Company's wine products at events supported by such directors." Does this mean they'll only serve UST's wine if it's free?
Maybe UST was feeling competitive with Anheuser-Busch, where top brass get unlimited free beer for "personal use and entertaining."
LINKS PLS IN ALL THESE SLIDES
Image courtesy of flickr user delphaber
Click here to see which COO's perks even include her performance review
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
Guaranteed Performance Reviews, and a Mansion on the Cheap
Wynn Resorts COO Linda Chen has a sweet deal, according to footnoted.org, which scours proxy statements for unusual executive perks. LINKS PLEASE First, according to footnoted.org, her contract states that her performance review can raise her $1.5 million salary but not decrease it.
Equally generous is her agreement with the company for housing when in business on the island of Macau. The company is buying a house for Chen to live in while in Macau, at a cost of $5.4 million. Chen can buy the house from the company at any time, but for each year that she's with the company she gets a 10 percent discount on the price of the house. So if she stays with Wynn for six years, she gets the house at 60 percent off. And if she stays with Wynn for at least ten years, then yes, that $5.4 million house becomes hers for the token price of $1.
Click here to see which CEO charges his company $1.4 million a year for a largely undefined "security system."
Image courtesy of flickr user pigliapost
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
Oracle CEO Larry Ellison seems to be sincere in his belief that only the paranoid survive WASN'T THIS ONLY THE PARANOID SURVIVE FROM ANDY GROVE? YOU ALSO NEED A HEADER FOR THIS SLIDE--PLS ENTER BELOWTHINK YOU NEED A NEW INTRO. If that is indeed true, Ellison is going to live forever. Oracle shareholders pay $1.4 million a year for Ellison's "residential security system" on his home in Northern California. As you might expect, the company doesn't have much more to say about Ellison's top secret arrangement, except that "security personnel" are included.
Click here to see which CEO stuck her new company the outsized legal fees she incurred negotiating her compensation package
Image courtesy of flickr user Oracle OpenWorld San Francisco 2009
8 Most Outrageous Executive Perks Ever
Legal Fees--For Negotiating with the Shareholders She's Supposed to Serve
When Carol Bartz joined Yahoo as its CEO in January 2009, she negotiated a compensation package worth about $39 million. That figure includes money Yahoo paid her that she essentially gave up by leaving her prior job. HUH? NOT CDLEAR WHAT THIS MEANS
Turns out Bartz had help negotiating that package from her attorneys, who billed her $110,000 for getting the most out of Yahoo. Once Bartz became CEO, Yahoo actually paid her legal fees too, meaning shareholders were essentially paying the attorneys who helped make sure Yahoo paid her enough to land her on proxy advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co.'s list of overpaid CEOs.