OT - Bankrupt Toys R Us wants to make sure Dave Brandon gets paid
http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/16/news/companies/toys-r-us-executive-bonu…
Toys "R" Us has asked the bankruptcy court for permission to pay $16 million in bonuses to its top executives if the company is able to hit some financial targets during the upcoming holiday shopping season. Among the 17 executives who would get payments is chairman and CEO David Brandon, who joined the company in 2015.
NASA really needs to look into Dave Brandon's ability to fall upwards. If we could harness that kind of energy we'd have a Mars colony up and running by the end of the week.
November 16th, 2017 at 3:28 PM ^
I'm white collar, but whenever my business segment is underperforming below a certain level (like 80 or 90% of PO), our yearly bonuses drop straight to zero to emphasize how important it is to hit business targets
For Toys R Us to being going through bankruptcy and still have the stones to ask for the executives bonuses by saying
It is the [company's] employees - and more particularly the senior management team - that must execute at this critical juncture and provide the foundation for a successful turnaroundis a stunningly tone deaf. I wish I could say I was incapable of doing my normal job without getting an enormous bonus
November 16th, 2017 at 3:39 PM ^
To be fair to DB, we don't know his targets and whether or not he hit those targets. We also don't know his true purpose as CEO. TRU has been hurting and on a downward trend for a while, so Brandon may have been hired to resturcture TRU via bankruptcy so they could emerge a smaller, but porfitable business.
Just the fact they they are filing for bankruptcy doesn't really tell you anything about Brandon (cupboard was bare and all).
November 16th, 2017 at 4:25 PM ^
I do get annoyed that executive compensation is such a circle jerk in this country that this type of compensation seems appropriate for the executives of a company going through bankruptcy. Obviously, you need to retain competent executives if you want any prayer of emerging from the ashes, but the golden parachute model of things at the top just irks me as someone in a white collar job at a Fortune 100 company.
Once you get into the executive club, how compensation is determined is a joke. It's all executives electing to give other executives huge salaries. There's no market.
November 16th, 2017 at 8:20 PM ^
Agree with you since boards of directors are basically other current/ ex-ecs, but TRU is is PE owned, so the owners essentially lose a dollar out of their pocket for every dollar Brandon makes. I guess they think it's worth it (Bain Cap and KKR must not have a lot of Michigan alumni).
November 16th, 2017 at 3:36 PM ^
November 16th, 2017 at 3:52 PM ^
and a big reason we have companies fail in this country, because of the CEO's getting huge golden parachutes....... I could go on and on, but will just leave it at that....
November 16th, 2017 at 4:09 PM ^
November 16th, 2017 at 4:29 PM ^
I've practiced some bankruptcy law. These are pretty standard asks (unfortunately in my view). The idea is that you need people knowledgeable about the business and working hard to stick around through the reorganization, which requires them to work more than they otherwise would. A lot of the time they're just gifts to top executives though.
November 17th, 2017 at 7:37 AM ^
November 17th, 2017 at 12:22 PM ^
My guess is that yoiu learned to make complete strawman arguments like that one while getting your degree at MSU. You use bigger words than I'd expect from a OSU grad.
November 16th, 2017 at 4:35 PM ^
Here is some background. Pretty good info and seems fair.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JYUo9WKkao
If the debt sustained to buy the company is actually on the company books, then keeping up a good flow of income is crucial. But if it was never the goal to keep the company viable but to milk it for what could be taken, then this seems inevitable.
If you are in a hurry skip to the 4 minute mark.
November 16th, 2017 at 7:33 PM ^
I'll always be a Toys R Us kid.
November 16th, 2017 at 5:54 PM ^
If executives of a bankrupt company need 16 million dollars to "perform at a high level", they should be immediately fired.
You ran your company into bankruptcy or took on the risk associated with joining a poorly performing company. Also, you are already filthy rich.
In closing, fuck yourself.
November 16th, 2017 at 6:07 PM ^
November 16th, 2017 at 7:17 PM ^
November 16th, 2017 at 9:04 PM ^
November 16th, 2017 at 9:12 PM ^
November 16th, 2017 at 11:10 PM ^
November 17th, 2017 at 1:38 PM ^
Amazing how the world works. This guy gets paid millions upon millions of dollars to ruin everything he touches.