This HAS to Stop: Huge Payouts To Departing Company Officers

Congress Should Void Contracts Enabling Them

A company called WeWork (wework.com) has given founder Adam Neumann $245 MILLION in company stock plus $200 MILLION [cash] as “part of an enormous exit package from the office rental company,” The Guardian reported on May 28. The article noted he led the company “to dizzying heights before its equally dramatic fall”.

Let’s suppose, for (just) a second, that WeWork continued its apparently dramatic early success. And then Mr. Neumann, flush with success and, one might imagine, a generous salary, etc. and et al, decided to walk. Even if things then were hunky dory, would he be worth of a parting present of four TIMES more than what most if not all of his employees could expect to earn in a lifetime?

Bigger question: Was he worth such a ‘gift’ when he walked as the company was tanking?

Sadly, ‘worth’ never comes into play here. Corporate boards, who can make any decisions they wish to regarding how the company’s money is spent, decide completely independent of any supervision to make awards such as this one — whether they make practical or financial sense or not.

He Rigged the Game

The Guardian further noted that, “Neumann’s ability to negotiate such rich terms was helped by the fact that his shareholdings controlled 10 times the votes of a normal shareholder, and he was able to argue for a higher…