11.23.2009 5:38 pm
Corporate boards gone wild
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Bill McClellan’s recent column about Emerson Electric and it’s RIGGED board of director’s election and David Farr, Emerson’s CEO (a four letter word in disguise) was right on the mark. It reminded me of the idea that I had years ago while watching how corporations worked when their respective boards voted themselves and their CEO’s (that four letter word again) obscene salaries and benefits. That idea (which must secretly be taught as a course in our MBA programs) is that the reason that CEO’s salaries, benefits, golden parachutes, etc., etc. are so out of control is that the corporations have found a perfect scheme to defraud and scam the public and their own employees - the ones that actually do real productive work, by nominating their corporate buddies - part of the good ole’ boys network, to be on their boards and vote them the huge salaries, bonuses ,etc. and then they in turn are put on other boards and vote their corporate friends the same huge salaries, bonuses, etc. It’s a self perpetuating scheme that has grown exponentially into the mammoth scandal that we now read and hear about daily in the news media. By nominating only the exact number of people needed for the board, they are in fact running a mini banana republic where all the elections are rigged and the stock holders, the hard working employees and the communities in which they operate are left holding the bag. Their elections are a joke! Like our own country, there is not much real democracy left. We, like these mini banana republics called corporations, now exist in a Moneyocracy and the haves (as Dubba once said), are now have-a-lots. The rich get richer and the rest of the nation become their serfs.
Terry Kippenberger
University City
A perfect example of liberal, socialist rant….full of hate and anger. Why are you so angry at Emerson? Are you an employee or stockholder? If not, what does it matter to you what they do and how they run their company.
You have a choice to not buy any Emerson products. Why don’t you do that and get a life….fill it with some fun and joy and quit your bitchin.
Boards are obligated to have nominating committees and the nominate candidates for election to the board. There’s nothing stopping any shareholder from nominating other candidates and running a proxy to elect them. Boards nominate candidates. Shareholders elect them.
The American people were warned by the AFL-CIO in 2000, when the corporate money interests hijacked the presidential election, that these robber-barrons would steal your pensions.
Hundreds of CEO’s (with the help of K-Street republicans including Bush),
cashed out stock options prior to the eventual collapse of their designer economy.
From 2003-2007. Charles Schwab, $816 million. J. Cayne, Bears Stearns, $163.2 million. M. Greenburg, AIG, $150 million. A. Mozilo, CountryWide, $471 million…And my favorite, D. Meyers, First Marble Head, College student loans of course, $660 million in stock! After cashing out while the cashing was good, he bought a 40,000 sq.ft oceanveiw mansion in RI.
He named his mansion “Seaward” after the famous pirate of course.
Just to name a few. There are hundreds of good ol’ boys who play the scam.
Don’t even talk to me about the infamous Walton Gang.
The CEO’s of 120 publicly traded firms cashed out a total of 21.8 billion and this doesnt count the fortunes made by “hedge fund theives” which exceeds over $230 billion….And the uneducated neanderthals yell, “Put a stop to the corrupt unions”! The highest paid union official in this country, Richard Trumka earns $240,000 a year. Real gangster isn’t he fellows?
Capitalism run Amok.
Have a nice Christmas.
Who needs unions when we have Republicans protecting American workers?
I’ll be sure to say hello to your daughter working the cash register at Big Lot’s.
jjk—The catch is that the people with the most shares (the wealthy) have the most power. A shareholder who has a few hundred shares has virtually no say in these matters. If I nominate a candidate to the AB board and Carlos Brito nominates a candidate–which one do you think will get elected?
Garrison,
that is the funniest, most accurate statement that i have heard in a year.
plumbum
Garrison, are you as equally outraged at the phony Hollywooders that take their movie productions to Canada and elsewhere to avoid unions and they make gobs of money too? Are you as equally outraged that Jeffrey Immelt CEO of GE is making all of our lightbulbs in China and we won’t even be able to buy lightbulbs made in this country after 2012 and oh yes, he is one of Obama’s econ advisors. I wonder if Immelt will be at Obama’s upcoming “jobs (joke) summit?”
Carol, the answer is NO. Democrats are perfect according to Garrison. Everything bad is done by Republicans.
Honestly, Liberals dont believe in our country and it’s citizens. They think government is what made this country great when we both know that government is ruining this country. Its pretty spooky!
Carol,
If you haven’t noticed, Garrison always only references 2000-2007. Totally oblivious to the fact that a democratic congress was at the helm when the economy tanked. Most sane people realize it was dual effort from both partys. A Very severe case of BDS.