“Charles Prince’s departure has been called “retirement,†which would entitle him to at least the $147.1 Million for his time at Citigroup,†reported the New York Times. The only wildcard left outstanding now will be his severance pay.
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The significance of calling Mr. Prince’s departure a retirement can be associated with the fall the other big name CEO, Stan O’Neil. While Mr. O’Neil’s departure was called a retirement he was denied any type of annual bonus and was also denied any type of severance pay. Which begs the question; Are the days of the “golden parachute†over?
I feel Stan O’Neil’s departure should serve as a great precedent for the treatment of under-performing CEOs in the financial sector. But only time will tell if the “Stan O’Neil treatment†will be distributed equally across the board.
I have read many statements from Black leaders saying that his, firing, retirement, resignation; whatever you want to call it will be the final test of equality. For that reason, I would like to see more CEO’s from the financial sector get the axe.
However, before pulling the race card I encourage people to really look under the hood regarding the Merrill Lynch situation. Stan O’Neil has been a person I have looked up to for a long time and for that reason I am not ready yet to comment on the fairness of his situation. One thing is clear though; Stan O’Neil was a strong leader for Merrill Lynch and is a strong black leader and I hope he chooses to do even more for his local and global community in retirement.
Ya moms
I think after that Home Depot CEO got that boatload of cash, the golden parachute as we knew it was definitely in jeopardy.
Hmmm. Peter Wuffli was bumped from UBS this summer. No package. Henry Paulson left Goldman for the government gravy train (although he was at the helm while Goldman was building up a hefty portfolio of bonds backed by various mortagages). But he still got nearly $20 million in a year-end bonus. Stan got the boot with no package, but don’t get it twisted… Stan got paid. He was still good for over $150 million because he was able to keep his stock options that hadn’t even vested yet. I think Chuck Prince will still get a severance package (albeit modest) because it doesn’t appear that he has been recently involved in any questionable dealings. Can’t say the same for Bear Stearns CEO nor Stan… But I think CEOs are well taken care of upon their exit, even if it doesn’t involve cold hard cash. Maybe they get to keep unvested options or access to the private jet. lol they’ll be aight-
November 7, 2007 at 12:11 am
Ya moms
Oh, good call with the article title.
November 7, 2007 at 12:12 am
Greg
Yeah, Stan definately will not be starving, that’s for sure. But do you buy all that about him talking about a merger without the board’s concent? Doesn’t sound like something a 10+ year vet would do.
November 8, 2007 at 7:28 pm