Too many chief executives still don't understand how they undermine investor trust and employee morale when they negotiate steep compensation deals for themselves, regardless of performance. And too often, directors go along with them, despite the current focus on corporate governance.
That is what dozens of readers said in response to my recent column on rich severance deals for recently fired CEOs. They offered thoughts on what must be done to restore trust in corporate management.
Here are some of their views.
All board directors know that the "necessary to recruit" argument (to justify executive compensation deals) is really bogus. There are lots of good managers, and a CEO's job is highly sought after.
There needs to be a serious effort to reverse the runaway growth of executive pay and pension schemes and, particularly, severance payments. It is just greed.
Who really deserves to earn more than a million dollars a year while their shareholders are getting poorer? A good start would be to ban interlocking directorships. Mutual back-scratching at our expense.
How do CEOs of big U.S. banks get away with paying themselves excessively while pleading "no contest" and paying hundreds of millions in fines for offenses that occurred while they were in charge? We, the shareholders, pay the fines and we should be able to penalize the management accordingly.
Charles BowenRetired CEOWilliamsburg, Va.
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