Hilton Hotels has revealed that CEO Stephen Bollenbach would get $10.5 million in severance if his job is involuntarily terminated after the Blackstone Acquistion deal closes.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the hotel chain said if the merger isn’t completed and Bollenbach leaves the CEO’s post as scheduled on Jan. 1, 2008, he would continue as an employee for three years and as a consultant for two years, and would get about $4 million over that 5-year period.
Private-equity firm Blackstone agreed in July to take the hotel chain private for $18.5 billion, plus the assumption of about $7.5 billion in debt.
Three Danish finance professors recently conducted a study that looked at whether major changes in a CEO’s life had an effect on company performance.
Here are some interesting findings from the study:
On average profitability slid by about one-fifth, in the two years after the death of a CEO’s child.
On average profitability slid by about 15% after the death of a spouse.
The death of a CEO’s mother-in-law led to a slight rise in company profitability.
The study also revealed that the larger a CEO’s house, the worse the company usually performed.
If you’re a first born child, you’ve got a lot to be happy about. A recent study conducted by Norwegian scientists and published in July in the journal Science found that oldest children on average had a higher IQ than their siblings. But the study results don’t stop there.
Scientists found that in addition to first-born children being smarter than their brothers and sisters…It appears they are also more likely to succeed in business.
Be it drive or aptitude or a slightly higher IQ, the advantage crosses gender and international lines.
Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Balmer is an eldest child, as is Avon’s (AVP) Andrea Jung. Charles Schwab, (SCHW) the oldest of two, overcame dyslexia to become one of the world’s richest. Joe Moglia, CEO of TD Ameritrade, (AMTD) was first-born of five and says he received regular corporal punishment as a child. And Andrea McGinty (pictured above), founder of Baby Dagny and It’s Just Lunch, is the oldest of six children.Read.
Less than a month ago Virgin Media CEO Steve Burch suddenly resigned due to what the company called at the time “family reasons”. In what most consider to be a peculiar move, troubled Virgin Media has appointed executive search firm Spencer Stuart to search for its new chief executive. There is widespread uncertainty regarding whether outside talent would be willing to join the company in light of the fact that several bidders are evaluating the company amid financial turmoil.
When Burch left, Neil Berkett was promoted from COO to acting CEO.
Many feel that Spencer Stuart being selected to conduct Virgin’s CEO search is strong evidence that the company is looking for a U.S. Cable industry veteran with a similar pedigree to its former CEO Steve Burch who came over from Comcast. It is understood that Virgin Media is understood to have instructed the firm to conduct a global search.
Reports say that Virgin favors an executive with experience of the UK media market, where intense competition from British Sky Broadcasting, BT, Carphone Warehouse and the BBC has hampered Virgin Media’s growth. This approach may in fact favor acting CEO Neil Berkett.
Starwood Hotels has spent the last 5-months searching for a new CEO. The search has finally ended. The company has announced that it has hired Frits van Paasschen, formerly CEO of Coors Brewing Co.
Van Paasschen has no hospitality experience. His experience with global consumer brands which includes executive stints at Nike and Disney are what made him an attractive candidate.
He takes over an impressive empire. Starwood’s portfolio includes Le Meridien, Sheraton, Westin and W Hotels. In a press release Starwood Chairman Bruce Duncan said “Frits is an extremely talented and proven leader with demonstrated success in driving both top and bottom-line growth on a global scale across a variety of leading consumer lifestyle companies.”
According to the 14th annual CEO Compensation Survey, top CEOs of major corporations made as much money in one day of work on the job as the average worker made during the entire year in 2006.
According to the survey, big company Chief Execs averaged close to $11 million in total compensation.
The top 386 CEOs in the study also took in perks, such as housing allowances and travel benefits, worth an average of $438,342 in 2006. It would take the average Joe making a minimum wage salary 36 years to earn what CEOs averaged in just perks alone.
The 14th annual survey was released jointly by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy. Read.
