No golden parachute, but . . . a $22-million pension
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Rick Wagoner won’t be getting severance payments from General Motors Corp., but the ex-CEO isn’t walking away empty-handed -- assuming the government allows his compensation deals with GM to stand.
Wagoner, booted by the Obama administration, will leave with a fat pension and a nice chunk of change in deferred compensation.
Here is how the Associated Press tallied the 56-year-old Wagoner’s going-away package:
In nearly 32 years with the company, Wagoner accrued pension benefits that the company valued at $22.1 million at the end of last year. The actual amount Wagoner will receive could vary because it will be paid in installments over the rest of his life. Wagoner also is entitled to $366,602 in unvested stock awards and $534,627 in deferred compensation as of Dec. 31, according to GM’s annual report. Wagoner also gets to keep about 3 million stock options, which allow him to buy GM shares at prices ranging from about $20 to $76.
The options, of course, are worthless with the stock now at $2.70 -- and likely to be reduced to almost nothing if new shares are issued to creditors either in an out-of-court reorganization or in bankruptcy.
The government banned executive severance payments at GM as a condition of the cash infusion the company got from the Treasury.
As for Wagoner’s pension and deferred-comp arrangements, a GM spokeswoman told Bloomberg News on Monday that ‘specifics on any compensation entitled to or actually paid to Mr. Wagoner are still being reviewed.’
Note, too, that if GM were to file for bankruptcy-court protection his benefits could be at risk.
-- Tom Petruno