|  | | 2006 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
Signing Up A New Chief In The Age Of Prenups
Staff Writer – The New York Times
Securities Mosaic. November 25, 2006
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EXCERPT: The corporate seat of power is not only getting hotter, but is increasingly equipped with an ejector button that directors are ever quicker to press. In fact, turnover in the corner office is heading toward a record high this year. According to the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, as of the end of October, 1,234 chiefs had left their jobs, compared with 1,110 by that time last year and a full-year total of just 663 in 2004. Many of them left under circumstances, be they lackluster performance or options scandals, that make them unappealing candidates for another chief executive slot. That means the supply of untainted superstar executives -- or ''gold medal winners,'' as Mr. Stucker [Robert J. Stucker, chairman of the Chicago law firm of Vedder Price] calls them -- is dwindling. … But the superstars are operating in a true seller's market. 'The boards tell their compensation consultants to do whatever it takes to make the deal,'' said Nell Minow, editor of the Corporate Library. ''They are more terrified of losing the candidate than of being castigated by shareholders or the media.'' Management experts say that the candidates, in their insistence on high pay and protections, are acting as much out of fear as greed. ''They are saying, 'You best give me a huge sign-on bonus and an even bigger retirement package, because I know I may be out of a job in a few years,' '' said Warren L. Batts, adjunct professor of strategic management at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. Ms. Minow put it more colorfully. ''C.E.O. employment contracts have become like prenups,'' she said. ''Instead of specifying what the signers will deliver, they concentrate on everyone's rights if things go wrong.'' |
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