Washington launched its biggest offensive yet against Wall Street pay practices Thursday, taking aim at everyone from senior executives to high-flying traders of complex securities.
A handful of major corporations have agreed to change the way they pay their employees, as calls to reform executive compensation structures heat up.
Earlier this year, public outrage boiled over with news of eye-popping pay to top executives on Wall Street.
It may not be long before shareholders have more control over how much money top executives across the country make.
Bailed-out insurer AIG again found itself in the crosshairs of bonus rage on Friday over its plans to pay $2.4 million in executive bonuses next week.
The Obama administration moved forward Wednesday on curbing runaway corporate pay practices, proposing new legislation aimed at giving shareholders a greater voice on executive pay and appointing a new so-called "pay czar."
It's a scary time for all workers, but what about middle management, the often-overlooked center of a business? Are they an unnecessary layer between line workers and senior management? One scholar says no. Paul Osterman, professor of human resources and management at M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management, recently published The Truth About Middle Managers (Harvard Business Press), arguing why this in-between group of workers is actually integral to an organization. In an interview with Fortune, Osterman talked about the plight of middle managers in a down economy.
At long last, angry shareholders may finally have their day.
An amendment in the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress Friday would severely restrict bonuses and other forms of compensation for top executives at companies receiving federal bailout money.
Americans are outraged over excessive CEO pay and perks. That outrage is justified, particularly when American taxpayers are footing the bill.
Washington launched its biggest offensive yet against Wall Street pay practices Thursday, taking aim at everyone from senior executives to high-flying traders of complex securities.
A handful of major corporations have agreed to change the way they pay their employees, as calls to reform executive compensation structures heat up.
Earlier this year, public outrage boiled over with news of eye-popping pay to top executives on Wall Street.
It may not be long before shareholders have more control over how much money top executives across the country make.
Bailed-out insurer AIG again found itself in the crosshairs of bonus rage on Friday over its plans to pay $2.4 million in executive bonuses next week.
The Obama administration moved forward Wednesday on curbing runaway corporate pay practices, proposing new legislation aimed at giving shareholders a greater voice on executive pay and appointing a new so-called "pay czar."
It's a scary time for all workers, but what about middle management, the often-overlooked center of a business? Are they an unnecessary layer between line workers and senior management? One scholar says no. Paul Osterman, professor of human resources and management at M.I.T.'s Sloan School of Management, recently published The Truth About Middle Managers (Harvard Business Press), arguing why this in-between group of workers is actually integral to an organization. In an interview with Fortune, Osterman talked about the plight of middle managers in a down economy.
At long last, angry shareholders may finally have their day.
An amendment in the $787 billion economic stimulus package passed by Congress Friday would severely restrict bonuses and other forms of compensation for top executives at companies receiving federal bailout money.
Americans are outraged over excessive CEO pay and perks. That outrage is justified, particularly when American taxpayers are footing the bill.
Pay cuts could be coming to a corner office near you, even if you're not the CEO of a troubled bank.
President Obama is having his say on soaring executive pay.
Merrill Lynch's chief executive John Thain has reportedly dropped his request for a $10 million annual bonus after being blasted by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
Overall compensation for the nation's top executives rose more than expected last year, but the rate of increase was the lowest in six years, according to a study released Tuesday.
President-elect Barack Obama had plenty to say about corporate excess on the campaign trail. One place his presidency should have a direct and early impact is on so-called "say on pay" legislation that would make annual shareholder votes on senior executive compensation part of securities law.
Congressman and Wall Street critic Barney Frank calls the new rules governing executive pay for banks that take direct government investment "historic," adding "[t]his is the first time in American history that the federal government has applied restrictions on the compensation that goes to top executives."
Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle Tuesday backed a Treasury Department plan to use part of the $700 billion bailout package to buy shares in U.S. banks.
As big Wall Street firms topple like dominoes, there is plenty of blame to go around.
Shareholders have been up arms lately about huge CEO paychecks, but so far that fervor hasn't translated into much action.
As the boss of a construction company that laid cable from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Kirkland Dudley had achieved a dream that remained elusive to many African Americans. He was rich. Respected. A leader in the black community.
Three chief executives with ties to the mortgage crisis were paid $460 million over five years, according to a congressional report issued Thursday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission launched an Internet tool Friday that makes it easier for investors to research and compare executive compensation.
John Mack isn't getting one this year. Neither is James Cayne.
Carly Fiorina didn't just break the glass ceiling, she obliterated it, as the first woman to lead a FORTUNE 20 company. But her fall from stardom was just as dramatic, and she remains a controversial figure, with opinion split on whether she deserves credit for HP's success since her firing in 2005. Fortune's Matthew Boyle talked to Fiorina - who now serves on several advisory boards, including the CIA's - about CEO pay, Dell's woes, and what she's learned from her tumultuous time at the top and, more recently, on the sidelines.
The higher women climb in Corporate America, the more difficult the ascent.
One of Hillary Clinton's most important courtships began early last year, around a formal dinner table at Georgetown's Four Seasons Hotel. Her targets were Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack and his wife, Christy. Mack was already active politically - but on behalf of Clinton's political opponents. A Bush "Ranger," he had raised at least $200,000 for the President's reelection bid and was one of the most prominent business names on GOP donor lists. At one time his name had circulated as a potential Bush Treasury Secretary.
The House passed legislation that gives shareholders a nonbinding say on executive compensation on Friday.
The issue of whether or not shareholders should get a say on company CEO compensation drew experts on both sides to a House hearing Thursday.
Aflac said Wednesday its board approved a resolution giving shareholders the right to a non-binding vote on executive pay packages that will take effect in 2009.
On the heels of stronger-than-expected economic growth numbers and ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement on interest rates, President Bush on Wednesday told a Wall Street audience that a strong economy worthy of investors' confidence requires free trade, business regulation that's fair but not oppressive, and better transparency in terms of executive pay.
As the boss of a construction company that laid cable from Atlanta to Los Angeles, Kirkland Dudley had achieved a dream that remained elusive to many African Americans. He was rich. Respected. A le...
CEOs in the construction industry enjoyed the biggest percentage pay increase in 2005 relative to peers in other major industries, according to a new report.
Just what makes a CEO great? Is it the ability to inspire the troops with bold visions of future growth? (You know, like Jeff Bezos at Amazon back in the day.) Or is it the resolve to cut ruthlessl...
The setting: a private gathering that included several leading lights on Wall Street and the heads of some of America's biggest companies.
By now, you've probably read some of the infuriating stats: According to a study by the Federal Reserve, American chief executive salaries have ballooned to more than 170 times the average worker's...
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - A study analyzing proxy votes on executive compensation issues alleges that mutual fund firms have enabled excess CEO pay.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - There are no paupers among CEOs of companies listed on the S&P indexes. But there has been a slowing in the growth of their pay, according to the latest research from The Corporate Library, a corporate governance watchdog.
More corporate boards are tying executive pay to company performance, according to a report published Tuesday.
DAVID CALHOUN General Electric LEADING HEADHUNTERS AGREE: The No. 1 draft pick in the game of grabbing top executive talent--the most lusted-after managerial star who isn't already a CEO--is David Calhoun of General Electric. "He's the top of the list," says Gerry Roche of executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. "He's the complete package," says Roche's archrival, Tom Neff of SpencerStuart. In this game, if Roche and Neff say you're it, you're it.
Leading headhunters agree: The No. 1 draft pick in the game of grabbing top executive talent -- the most lusted-after managerial star who isn't already a CEO -- is David Calhoun of General Electric.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Christopher Cox, its straight-talking chairman, have begun taking steps that could curb excessive CEO pay. But they have only just begun.
DID YOU GET A 30% RAISE LAST YEAR? IF NOT, YOU MAY be among the millions of Americans who are understandably furious that the average CEO did get that big a pay hike, according to a new survey by t...
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - If sky-high executive pay at publicly traded companies gives you vertigo, you might want to read this sitting down.
The American International Group, the insurance giant engulfed in an accounting scandal, released details of an unusual compensation plan that gave ousted chief executive Maurice Greenberg and other top executives millions of dollars in previously undisclosed stock awards, according to a report Tuesday.
I'm sick and tired of the eternal handwringing over CEO pay. Yes, it's out of control; we all know it, and that's as far as we ever get. A year ago the conventional view held that CEO pay was next ...
I'm not the typical minority," says Jose de Lasa in a thick Caribbean accent. De Lasa thinks that because he was born and raised in a privileged family in Cuba that came to Miami when he was 20 yea...
On Jan. 13, employees of Agere Systems, the $1.9 billion semiconductor maker that spun off from Lucent in 2002, arrived at work to find a letter from CEO John Dickson in their in-boxes. A typical e...
But the pigs were so clever that they could think of a way round every difficulty. --George Orwell, Animal Farm
The latest plan to rein in executive compensation is simple: Make it easier for companies to pay top honchos more than $1 million a year.
The food was good. The weather was heavenly. But the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia was not an especially joyous place in early October as 68 chief executives converged for a meeting of the sup...
Early in September, Microsoft had a small confession to make. Back in December 2000, the company had lent its president, Rick Belluzzo, $15 million, taking some of his stock options as collateral. ...
The firms on FORTUNE's fifth annual Best Companies for Minorities list aren't immune to the problems currently plaguing corporate America. No. 12, Lucent, has sacked half its workers. No. 14, Xerox...
In the great, continuing, and probably everlasting debate about executive compensation, the world knows pretty well what two sides of the pay triangle think. Most CEOs seem to believe they're worth...
Sandy Weill, who got a pay package worth some $151 million for running Citigroup last year, was a Brooklyn teenager back in the summer of 1950, preparing to return to Peekskill Military Academy. Ja...
Impromptu Gourmet couldn't wait any longer. It had assembled just about all the ingredients it needed: a strategy, $4 million from Scripps Ventures and other backers, and the product itself, haute ...
Goran Lindahl is absolutely neurotic about his company's stock. On a late January day, the chief executive of ABB, the Swiss-Swedish engineering group, is being interviewed by FORTUNE at the compan...
Much of the fun of proxy season--you do find it fun?--is getting a peek at the private finances of public figures who make a whole lot of money. Even if you don't read proxy statements recreational...
Not so long ago, a million dollars a year seemed like an absurdly extravagant income, and for nearly all the world's inhabitants, it is still the stuff of fairy tales. But in certain places in Amer...
You probably recall that six years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued new rules that oblige companies to spell out, in proxy statements to shareholders, what top executives earn. Us...
Among the T-shirted techies who cram the dingy offices of NetGravity, a San Mateo, Calif., software startup, Stephen Recht stands out. He wears a tie. He is 45. He has a wife and a son and a house ...
Twice a year my mailbox is jammed with glossy publications. Early autumn brings the catalogues, which I carry upstairs and riffle through, looking at photographs of stuff I can barely afford. Now, ...
What keeps managers up at night more than any other problem? My guess would be a business that--no matter how hard you try--just won't perform. You know the symptoms. Boosting sales and profits is ...
ARE YOU competing to dominate your industry's future? To find out, ask yourself three questions we often ask senior managers: First, what percentage of your time is spent on external rather than in...
CORPORATE AMERICA is having a hot love affair with teams. And why not? When teams work, there's nothing like them for turbocharging productivity. Beguiling examples abound: Scores of service compan...
BECAUSE WE believe in you, we are raising your sales quota 20%. But your relationship with customers is already strong, so we're trimming your travel budget. Also, would you mind sharing your secre...
TRYING TO TEACH leadership may be a lot like trying to teach sex. If you really need lessons, well . . . Or that was the old view, part of the you-have-the-right-stuff-or-you-don't school. Getting ...
FIGURING OUT what top executives get paid used to be like deciphering hieroglyphics: Even with years of training, it was slow going. Obfuscation of the proxy statement, where the numbers are report...
IF YOU ARE a manager or a professional working for someone else, chances are that money has been on your mind a lot lately, just after job security. The recession and modest inflation have induced ...
TALK FOR A WHILE with any woman who has worked her way to the top of a sizable U.S. corporation. You'll get a strong sense that she feels a bit like Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard when he improvi...
FROM THE DIN of the campaign trail to the cross fire at annual meetings, the issue of executive pay is stirring outrage and cries for reform. FORTUNE's survey of CEO pay at 200 of America's largest...
CEOS ARE PAID a lot to face facts, however unpleasant, so it's time they faced this one: The issue of their pay has finally landed on the national agenda and won't be leaving soon. It is now inevit...
Bad news for anyone who hopes to get employee stock options: Your chances just slipped a notch. It's nothing personal. The ever hotter issue of CEO pay has reignited a debate over what those option...
THIS COULD be the moment the great CEO pay bash starts winding down. Could be. We won't know until proxy statements come out next spring. But excesses of this past year produced an outcry that has ...
IF YOU THINK American CEOs are overpaid, you'll find this latest news depressing: They're making more than ever, and the connection between their pay and performance is weakening. These are among t...
JAN PRISING is a Swede who runs an American-owned company out of an office overlooking Lake Varese in Italy. He speaks five languages -- but not Italian -- and conducts most of his business in Engl...
HAROLD EPPS, who runs the Digital Equipment Corp. plant that makes computer keyboards, manages the work force of the future. The Boston factory's 350 employees come from 44 countries and speak 19 l...
IF THERE WAS ever a compensation package that proved you could win by losing, it's the one CenTrust Bank of Miami gave its chairman, David Paul. In fiscal 1989, while the thrift suffered close to $...
TODAY, as CEOs waken to the new dawn of participatory management and even slugabeds are heard to murmur ''empowerment'' in their sleep, there is reason to believe that their heretofore faithful ret...
WHAT'S going on with CEO pay? FORTUNE asked Graef S. Crystal to answer that question, repeating a ground-breaking study that he conducted last year and wrote about in this magazine (June 6, 1988). ...
AMERICA'S top chief executives are sharply divided over some of the most basic principles of how they are paid. Is their compensation sufficiently linked to performance? About half say yes, half no...
The bulk of major American corporations are failing in one of the most basic tasks -- developing tomorrow's CEOs. They can't afford simply to clone today's leaders. They need radically different on...
IT IS THE WORST OF TIMES for middle managers, that beleaguered band of demibosses currently blamed for most ills afflicting corporate America. Either their jobs are vanishing in mergers, takeovers,...
IT'S PROXY SEASON, and a favorite activity of many shareholders in coming weeks will be checking how much their companies' top executives got paid. Lots of luck. The Securities and Exchange Commiss...
EARLY ONE DAY last year, Duracell CEO C. Robert Kidder decided to spend his first hour at work browsing through a computer system designed for the company's top executives. This time he was curious...
WOULD THIS HAPPEN at your company? A young woman, a line worker in an assembly plant, shows up at the chairman's office in a sour mood. Not only does she get in to see the boss, but he sits there a...
YOU CAN'T BLAME the troops for being suspicious. Top management wants to put us on some incentive pay plan? Us, out here in Division 12? They want to put more of our pay ''at risk,'' as they say, s...
Like many Japanese companies, Toray Industries, the country's biggest maker of synthetic fibers, was hurt by the strengthening yen. The $6-billion-a-year company saw its domestic market eroded by A...
FROM EUROPE to the Orient, top managers are strikingly underpaid compared with their U.S. counterparts. Chief executives of 24 U.S. companies, including Du Pont, Sara Lee, Toys ''R'' Us, and Lotus ...
THE BARBARIAN HORDES were descending on Rome, mayhem in their loathsome souls. There was only one man to take charge of the republic in its hour of need, and the call went out to a humble farmer na...
READER, you have in your hands not only a magazine but also a mirror. If you are a woman who works in a corporation, you may encounter yourself here -- perhaps a middle manager, standing at the edg...
HOW DOES IT FEEL to burn out? The architect who was the hero of Graham Greene's haunting novel A Burnt-Out Case explained: ''At the end you haven't even got a self to express. I have no interest in...
FIGURE THIS OUT: Last year was not a sterling one for Bally Manufacturing, the casino operator and maker of pinball machines. Among the diversified service companies on FORTUNE's Service 500, Bally...
AMADEO PETER GIANNINI, the San Francisco fruit merchant who founded BankAmerica, believed that the best customer a bank could have was the ''little fellow.'' Not that Giannini had modest ambitions:...
IF YOU WANT to analyze a corporation, read its financial statements. If you want to plumb its soul, talk to its chief executive. Despite the size and complexity of modern corporations, the person i...
SAY FAREWELL to the classic postwar American manager, that model of rational decision-making who coolly piloted us through the prosperity of the Fifties and the go-go of the Sixties, only to begin ...
At 43, John Sculley was among the hottest of hotshots at PepsiCo. President of the Pepsi-Cola division, he was a marketing wizard with a good chance of heading the parent company. Then in 1983 Appl...
If creating wealth for shareholders is the best measure of a businessman's success, Thomas J. Watson Jr. is the greatest capitalist who ever lived. When Watson, now 73, retired as IBM's chief execu...
ESFJ SPOKEN HERE,'' reads the sign on the accountant's desk at Compass Computer Services in Dallas. Her boss, the controller, has a card that says he speaks ''ISTJ.'' The scrambled letters have als...
THOMAS R. Wagener, 43, is unemployed. For 17 years he had climbed the executive ladder of Abex Corp., a subsidiary of IC Industries that manufactures castings and hydraulic equipment. ''Not too lon...
ANY AMERICAN executive worth his perks might be a bit worried nowadays about the continued availability of these special benefits. First, the Internal Revenue Service got tough on company cars -- h...
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