Sunday, April 09, 2006

The WSJ's new survey of executive compensation is out!

Don't miss it.
A couple of my favorite titbits from the article listing some of the largest CEO pay offenders in 2005:

"
WHITEHALL JEWELLERS INC.
The financially ailing retailer paid newly recruited CEO Beryl Raff $980,000 for "transition compensation" while she remained on J.C. Penney Co.'s payroll.

REACTION OR UPSHOT: Ms. Raff resigned a week before her planned Sept. 15 debut and sent Whitehall an after-tax reimbursement for $593,865.

COMPANY COMMENT: John Desjardins, finance chief, has said the transition payments were "a negotiated point" designed to cover "costs she experienced" in changing employers. He declines to comment further.

MERCURY INTERACTIVE CORP.
Its CEO and two other senior executives quit in November after an internal probe found they "benefited personally" from widespread, improper manipulation of stock-option grant dates to provide an extra pay windfall.

REACTION OR UPSHOT: Mercury's investigation grew out of an inquiry by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is conducting a broader probe of option granting. Nasdaq later delisted the Silicon Valley software concern. The company has said it will have to restate financial results.

COMPANY COMMENT: "I don't think anybody will be surprised" when Mercury appears on a pay missteps list, an outside spokesman says.

"

Read more in the article here.

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