Thursday, January 8, 2009
Books / Retail Just Like White Lightnin'
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 4:25 PM
On this post about Borders CEO George Jones' forced ejection from the failing company, there's this comment:
So, if business is worse, they halved the CEO salary and exit compensation, right?(mutter)
Let me guess, they increased it ...
Posted by Will in Seattle on January 5, 2009 at 12:09 PM
Will in Seattle, you are correct: As a parting gift for dragging the company down even further, Jones was rewarded with "18 months' base salary plus 'target bonus,' plus 75% of his promised retention bonus worth some $500,000." Other figures about how much failures make at Borders is described here. When I think about how little I made working at Borders, this makes my eyes sting a little bit.
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2
And you thought I was just being cynical ...
You forget, I actually read the shareholder's reports and the filings ....
You forget, I actually read the shareholder's reports and the filings ....
3
Yeah, well wait until they hire the next guy. I mean, if he's going to be better they have to pay him more. It's just logical.
4
i worked at borders a zillion years ago, and even made a little money buying some pre-IPO shares (very little money, but still). I never would have pegged them as big losers in the books/music/video game, but here we are.
No business lasts forever, apparently.
No business lasts forever, apparently.
5
The broader implications of having not just corporations but every aspect of our societies run by leaders who are perfectly insulated from the consequences of their own actions are really starting to it home, aren't they?
Remember how the captains of industry have always told us that Capitalism was better than Communism because people under Communism got paid the same whether they did a good job or a poor one, so they invariably foot-dragged and half-assed it because there was no incentive to excel? What incentive is there for a CEO to work hard and stay late at the office, or to cultivate wisdom and foresight, or in fact to even meet minimal standards for competence if they get paid fantastic sums no matter what?
Remember how the captains of industry have always told us that Capitalism was better than Communism because people under Communism got paid the same whether they did a good job or a poor one, so they invariably foot-dragged and half-assed it because there was no incentive to excel? What incentive is there for a CEO to work hard and stay late at the office, or to cultivate wisdom and foresight, or in fact to even meet minimal standards for competence if they get paid fantastic sums no matter what?
6
Having worked at Borders many years ago, and having gone in there a few times over the years and seen the crappy changes made, I've come to the conclusion that Borders had the same problem that Starbucks had -- overreach. Instead of focusing on making the basic business of book- and music-selling better or simply keeping their business sustainable, they branched out into all kinds of crap like the greeting card shops they have in them, in attempts to generate profit and keep shareholders happy. Just like Starbucks with its movie, book and music-related ventures. Because sustainability just isn't enough. Capitalism is a fickle bitch goddess, ain't it?
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