BusinessWeek: Microsoft Loses Peter Moore. Fresh off the startling announcement that it would take a charge of more than $1 billion to cover costs of repairing defective Xbox 360 video game consoles, Microsoft announced July 17 that its top gaming executive, Peter Moore, was leaving to run the sports franchise at top independent video game publisher Electronic Arts.
I’ve just posted the Offer Letter from Electronic Arts Inc. to Peter Moore.
Washington Post: Appeals Court Judge Leaves Life Appointment for Boeing. J. Michael Luttig, the federal appeals court judge who was on President Bush’s short list for the Supreme Court but recently clashed with the administration over a terrorism case, resigned from the bench yesterday to become senior vice president and general counsel at the Boeing Co.
Been scouring Boeing’s securities filings since—what’s the date of that WaPo article?—May 11, 2006. Almost a year ago! Finally found a J. Michael Luttig contract. Not an employment agreement, but better than nothing. The big deal is that Boeing will be paying Luttig $225,000 annually for life once he hits age 65. He’ll be turning 53 in a month, so the payments will start rolling in 12 years from now. Certainly, $225,000 is more than the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court is pulling in salary. But, we’re talking about 12 years from now. Once inflation takes its toll, that sum may not appear as enticing as it does now. If I’m doing my math right, in 12 years with 2.5% inflation, that $225,000 will buy as much as $166,736 in today’s dollars. Not bad for retirement money, but that’s first-year associate money.
Read the press release for the details. So, was the petroleum industry talking about Lord Browne or Hugo Chavez today? I’ve added the Employment Agreement between British Petroleum Company plc and Edmund John Philip Browne, or Lord Browne of Madingley, to the website.
Reuters/Yahoo! Finance: First US hedge fund IPO raises $634 million. After weeks of anticipation, packed road shows and massive demand, Fortress Investment Group LLC on Thursday raised $634 million with an initial public offering, the first such move by a diversified private equity and hedge fund in the United States.
Fortress Investment Group LLC contracts have been posted. Just employment agreements, if you are interested.
Gap Inc. announced that CEO Paul Pressler will step down from his position as president and chief executive officer of the company, as well as resign his seat on the company’s board, effective immediately.
Pursuant to the Employment Agreement between Gap Inc. and Paul Pressler, Pressler is eligible for up to approximately $14 million associated with his severance with the company, assuming a company stock price of $20 per share, which Gap did hit in after-hours once news of the resignation filtered out.
Reuters: Salary.com sets IPO at 5 mln shares, $8-$10 each. Salary.com, which provides on-demand compensation management products, set on Friday its planned initial public offering at 5 million shares for an estimated price of $8 to $10 each.
When I saw the above article, I headed straight to SEC EDGAR to take a peak at Salary.com’s material contracts. I wish they had more employment agreements on file, but I could only find the employment offer letter between Salary.com Inc. and Kenneth S. Goldman. Naturally, the question that follows is how does his compensation compare with Salary.com’s salary range? From the offer letter, we can see that Kenneth Goldman was offered a position as the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Salary.com, Inc. In terms of compensation, here’s the relevant paragraph from the offer letter:
Your overall annual total cash compensation package for expected performance should total $259,000.00 per year. This will consist of a base salary of $185,000.00 and an annual variable incentive component targeted of forty percent (40%), as part of the senior management bonus pool; based on your individual and team performance, as well as the company’s satisfactory performance against goals and objectives.
Next, I hopped onto the Salary.com website and looked up the salary range for CFOs in Needham, MA, where Salary.com is located.
Uh, his base salary is in the bottom 10th percentile. I think he needs to go back in and ask for a raise based on the salary data he found on some job salaries website. 🙂
Marketplace:: Sloan Sessions: Goodbye Bob Nardelli. When Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli resigned last week, a lot of people were outraged at his severance package: $210 million. That’s a lot of money for a CEO whose company struggled badly while he was on the job.
When Carly Fiorina walked away from HP with a $21 million severance package, the critics scowled. Now, Bob Nardelli leaves Home Depot and suddenly $21 million looks like chump change. You can find Robert Nardelli’s employment agreement on the site now, along with other Home Depot contracts.
New York Times: KB Home Ousts Its Chief and 2 Others. The longtime chief executive of KB Home, one of the nation’s largest home builders, resigned under pressure on Sunday night and agreed to return $13 million in profit from backdated stock options, the company said.
At first, I thought the stock options backdating problem was only a tech company issue. However, recent events indicate that this problem spans across companies from different industries and may be more widespread. I’ve posted KB Home contracts to the web site where you can find the employment agreement for Bruce Karatz from 1995 and 2001, as well as his recent resignation agreement with KB Home.