gavriil

Ford CEO gets $14.5 million in 2003 compensation - - - Reuters / April 08, 2004 - - Source: Automotive News


DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Ford Jr. received about $14.5 million in compensation for 2003, a year that saw the automaker return to profit for the first time since 2001.

In its annual proxy, the company disclosed that Bill Ford's compensation included a stock option grant covering 4 million shares with a strike price of $9.82, well below Ford's close at $13.59 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

The options, given in lieu of long-term incentives and due to expire in 2013, were valued at $11.5 million, the company said.

The proxy said Ford was also awarded a 2003 bonus of $1.5 million in restricted stock equivalents and options valued at $1.5 million in lieu of a cash salary.

Bill Ford, whose great-grandfather founded Ford 100 years ago, has forgone a cash salary since he ousted former CEO Jacques Nasser, who led the company to a $5.45 billion loss in 2001.

Total compensation for Bill Ford and his top five executives came to roughly $32 million in 2003, or about 6 percent of its full-year net earnings of $495 million.

That may not be enough to trigger any alarm bells, and executive compensation at the second-largest U.S. automaker actually shrank from 2002, when Bill Ford received $21.6 million in stock options.

But a company spokeswoman said that was largely due to assumptions about the fair market value of Ford's stock. And at its annual meeting on May 13, the proxy said two shareholder proposals about executive pay at Ford would be put to a vote.

One proposal is aimed at broader disclosure about compensation and the other calls for discontinuing all rights, options, and possible severance payments to the top-five members of the company's management team.

Ford's board of directors will recommend a vote against both proposals at the shareholders meeting, which will be held this year in Louisville, Kentucky, the proxy said.

gavriil

Three words: Pathetic and unacceptable!

gavriil

William Ford, Jr., 45
Chairman, CEO
Salary: $219,953.00

Brief Biography
Mr. Ford has held a number of management positions within Ford, including Vice President - Commercial Truck Vehicle Center. From 1995 until October 30, 2001, Mr. Ford was Chair of the Finance Committee. Effective January 1, 1999, he was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors and effective October 30, 2001, he was elected Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Ford also is Vice Chairman of The Detroit Lions, Inc., and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village. He also is a Vice Chairman of Detroit Renaissance Foundation and a Trustee of Princeton University.

titan

That's a damn shame... to much compensation for Ford and the top five executives.

Chaptorial

Damn that’s a nice bonus. Deserves it more then Nasser though.

mc222

As long as they are making money, I dont see a problem with it...Its the way it is

1SICKLEX

Nassar, wrong place at the wrong time. Firestone did him and Ford in, not Ford.

I think it's too early for celebration for Ford.

CCns24

Hmm, and I wonder how much he paid in taxes this year? Probably more than we'll make in a lifetime.

I am tired of people bitching about what top executives make. If you made that kind of scratch, even if your company wasn't doing too well, you'd still accept it wouldn't ya? Quit crying....and get a second job

gavriil

That "way it is" changes as quickly as it's made to be.

gavriil

Who could argue with that...

gavriil

So because top execs accept the money, boards should keep paying them astronomically? Give me a break sir.

gavriil

In 2003 Ford was bleeding. Even now they are. How can you pay the CEO 14 mil when the company is doing so badly. No excuses. The CEO, if truly commited, should be making zero for that year. Give him options with 4 year vesting periods like they give to the bottom feeders like us, so they can cash in, only if there were tangible, real, sustained results. Why not bitch about this kind of stuff?

soopa

So... i bet none of you own ford stock. wtf do you care?

anyone who does is foolish


if i was that CEO id be cashing in too. fuk it

CCns24

It's his namesake. He's the CEO. I guess we should all be pissed at Bill Gates and the Walton family, oh and Warren Buffet, wait I forgot Trump, another name that comes to mind is Richard Branson. Fuck it, let's be pissed at everyone who makes more money than we do.

These people make the kind of money they do because they run multi-billion dollar companies. If you had their job, that is what you would be paid also.

So, I assume by your logic, that if the company is doing poorly, then the CEO should take a paycut right? If he takes a paycut, then shouldn't all the employee's also. Oh wait, can't do that now can we....that's not fair.

Again, like Soopa said, don't bitch about things that don't affect you.

gavriil

Your comparison is invalid. Gates and Buffet are running two VERY successful companies. They deserve what they make and more. Trump does not count, he is not running a public company overall. Only his five casino/hotel properties are public under DJT. So no. I am not "pissed at everyone who makes more money than we do"

I am sad to see Ford make 14.5 mil when the company was doing slightly better than being in Chapter 11 at the time.

That's not how it works. When you suck, you are out. Of course Bill Ford came in and the situation sucked, but I say: why pay him before he proves he did something worth paying for and why pay him so well during a bloody period for the company?

If the failure of the company happened during a CEO's tenure, then absolutely yes. Paycut and then firing. In the case of Bill Ford, see previous comment.

What are you talking about? The first thing a public company does when the going gets tough is lay people off. By the thousands in the case of Ford! What paycut. You'll be lucky to get a paycut and stay. Also, Ford employees got big paycuts and bonuses for mgt disappeared for several years, only now starting to come back slowly.

Sorry for being able to talk freely on this board and this country. OK, bitch freely, I guess.

Actually, it does affect me. Seeing Ford, the company, as an institution do well, makes this country's economy do better, so it affects all of us.

Instead of paying Bill 14 mil, pay him 3 mil and spend the rest to design a better manifold for the Focus and hire some more people while doing it. Rediculous but valid example.

gavriil

We should all care when an American institution like Ford does well or not well. It affects us all.

This country's strength is mainly derived by the work ethic of the everyday people, who get up every morning and go to work and work hard for what they make. It's also derived by the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit of many of us. So when Ford does well, America does well. Dont they Italians have a similar say for Fiat?

Yes they do...