Broadcasting division President Dave Lougee is now the most-senior of top Gannett executives to cash in year-old stock options. If CEO Craig Dubow, President Gracia Martore or U.S. newspaper division President Bob Dickey dumped shares, we'd have an interesting story.
This is the first time in years that any of their stock options have had value. Until now, all the hundreds of thousands awarded to them have been worthless.
That's one reason why they've persuaded the board of director's compensation committee to stop requiring them to take any of their bonuses in stock. Yet, at the same time, those all-cash payouts send a powerful message to Wall Street and to the employees: The top brass doesn't think GCI's stock is a good investment right now.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
5 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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Want a lesson in how a CEO should behave? Check out this blurb from the paid content web site:
ReplyDelete"In contrast to senior executives at the NYTCo (NYSE: NYT) and Gannett (NYSE: GCI), who took home more money in '09 than the year before, Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO) chairman and CEO Donald Graham saw his compensation cut nearly in half last year. Graham's total ‘09 compensation was $472,997, a 41 percent drop from $811,960 the year before, according to an SEC filing. The executive’s base salary of $400,000 has remained the same year in, year out since he took the CEO post in 1991. Graham was granted $72,387 in retirement benefits this past year. The big difference between last year and the one before was that in '08, Graham took in another $400,000 tied to performance-based pay, as well as $11,960 in 401(k) retirement contributions. That said, in another sign of restraint, Graham has not accepted grants of restricted stock in the company since 2004."
Too bad we can't get him to Gannett...
Yes, plus Donny had a punishing divorce that saw his holdings cut in half. He's a hurting puppy. By the way, you don't read this stuff about Graham in the Washington Post.
ReplyDeleteYou get what you pay for. According to Google Finance, here's the two companies' stock performance since July 2005, when Dubow became CEO:
ReplyDeleteGannett: down 77%
Washington Post Co.: down 48%
Graham, too? New York Times Co. Publisher Arthur Sulzberger gave up a bunch of stock when he divorced his wife two years ago.
ReplyDeleteBarf from the past (who writes this garbage):
ReplyDelete"But in a profoundly multicultural society such as ours, the key Moments of Life are as bountiful and diverse as the people who live, work, go to school and raise families in the communities served by Gannett newspapers. Under Real Life, Real News, it is essential that Gannett journalists be aware of all the diverse cultures in their own communities and also of the Moments of Life that matter most within those cultures."