Ex-GM CEO Rick Wagoner Gets $8.2m Pay-Off
Sure, Wagoner was due to collect $22.1 million for time served. But even though his contract was with Old GM, Red Ink Rick?s riches were [somehow] assigned to New GM. Which means Wagoner?s getting an $8.2 million dollar thank you. Oh and a $74,030 annual pension. Oh and a chance to cash-in his $2.57 million life insurance policy. And unspecified perks (cars for life, travel, etc.). Bodyguards? The Detroit News tells us ?General Motors Co. officials declined comment.?
The Detroit News »
The old General Motors Corp. has reached a retirement agreement with former chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner that will pay the ousted leader almost $8.2 million plus a $74,030 annual pension.
The payout package was outlined in a regulatory filing late Tuesday afternoon with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
That's far less than what Wagoner was originally due before GM last month outlined drastic cuts in pensions for some former high-level executive retirees. GM disclosed the cuts during a conference call to retirees last month.
GM white-collar pension recipients who receive a total yearly payment of $100,000 or less will lose 10 percent of their annual payout. But former executives who collect a higher annual pension will see distributions reduced by two-thirds.
Wagoner, a 32-year veteran of GM, had a pension with total accrued benefits of $22.1 million as of Dec. 31. The retirement package was to be paid in five annual pension payments of $4,523,400, with the first monthly installment due upon his retirement.
Under an arrangement reached between Wagoner, 56, and the old GM, he will get $1,636,105 for five years and $74,030 a year for the rest of his life.
Wagoner, who was fired in late March by President Barack Obama, remains on the payroll at a $1 a year and will officially retire Aug. 1.
He also will receive personal umbrella liability insurance coverage until Jan. 1, 2010 -- which is consistent with what other executives are receiving from the old GM. He also will get an existing life insurance policy or its cash value of $2.57 million.
General Motors Co. officials declined comment.
The retirement agreement was assigned to the new GM in conjunction with an asset sale approved last week by a U.S. Bankruptcy judge.
GM also disclosed the identities of additional members of the old GM board of directors.
The old GM -- now known as Motors Liquidation Co. -- is headed by President and CEO Al Koch, who is vice chairman and managing director of restructuring firm AlixPartners. Koch is handling the sale and liquidation of the old company's assets, such as the Pontiac, Hummer, Saab and Saturn brands.
On the board, he is joined by James Selzer, who is vice president and treasurer of the old GM. Selzer also is a director in the corporate turnaround and restructuring practice of AlixPartners.
Koch and Selzer will be paid $835 an hour and $555 an hour, respectively, filings show.
Their affiliated firm, APServices LLC, is entitled to a $13 million "success fee" since U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber approved the GM asset sale. The company also may be paid an undetermined fee by old GM, according to the regulatory filing. The financial terms of the fee are being discussed and are subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.
Earlier this month, the old GM elected five new directors who will serve on the company's board. They are Stephen Case, who founded AOL but is no longer associated with the company, former Chrysler Group President James Holden, Alan Johnson, Alan M. Jacobs and Wendell Adair.
The directors will be paid a $50,000 annual retainer, plus $3,000 per meeting.
The old GM will file periodic reports with the SEC outlining liquidation payments, expenses and other data. And once old GM is liquidated -- a process Koch said could take two or three years -- a final report will be publicly filed.