Feb 14, 2007 10:23 pm US/Central
CEOs Live The High Life With Executive Perks
by Bennett Cunningham
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
North Texas CEOs seem to be enjoying the high life while many workers stay in low paying jobs with nominal pay increases.
Documents from the Security and Exchange Commission [SEC] show Myron Ullman III, the CEO of Plano-based JC Penny in 2005, spent a pretty "penny" using the corporate jet for personal travel.
According to the company, he needed it to fly to his other home in Colorado and commute to work. Stockholders footed a $550,000 bill which included his ground transportation and nearly $60,000 in accompanying taxes.
SMU Cox School of Business Professor Mel Fugate said these types of perks are customary. "The worst answer, but the true answer, is because everybody else does it," he said.
Cleo Forward works at a local Wal-Mart. He makes $13 an hour. According to SEC documents, in 2006 his boss, Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott, made about 400 times Forward's salary, earning $5,000 an hour. Forward asked, "What does he do on a daily basis? Look at reports?"
According to Wal-Mart, Scott received nearly a $4 million bonus and a $50,000 raise that year. Forward said the last time he got a raise was, "back in July (2006), and they gave me 50 cents."
Wal-Mart told CBS 11 News, "An independent board committee sets the CEO's compensation to ensure that it is competitive... Our pay at every level in the organization is competitive, from hourly associates to senior executives."
What is going on? Even President Bush is calling for closer scrutiny of executive pay packages.
Some executives get their perks and extra money to pay their taxes. They are called 'gross-ups'. According to documents filed with the SEC, some Dallas-based TXU executives received extra money to offset taxes on some life insurance policies.
TXU CEO C. John Wilder gets "tax reimbursement for fringe benefits" including "reimbursement for his wife accompanying him on business travel and club membership."
Corporate filings show at Irving-based Kimberly-Clark and Plano-based EDS, 'gross-ups' may occur if executives leave the company because of a change in ownership, and they get million-dollar payouts.
In the past, documents show stockholders paid for CEO Michael H. Jordan's $62,000 bill for financial planning and tax preparation. Texas Instruments CEO R.K. Templeton, who made $5 million in 2005, had stockholders foot his home alarm bill for $725.
To be fair, we have included the CBS Corporations most recent filing on the perks our own executives enjoy.
You can find out how much any CEO makes. To go to the Web site,
click here and look for the Form DEF 14A.
(CBS 11 News)
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