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| Saleh |
Martore was promoted to chief operating officer and president -- the company's No. 2 position -- in February; she had remained CFO as well. In her current role, she's the clear favorite to succeed CEO Craig Dubow -- a switch that could now take place at any time, now that she's offloaded the finance duties.
In the statement, Martore was quoted saying: "Paul will be a great partner with the senior management team as we continue to transform Gannett as a leading media and marketing solutions company."
Unless I'm mistaken, Saleh is the first CFO who didn't come from within the company's ranks.
Wikipedia says he was born in 1957, making him about 53 years old.
He also is a member of the board of directors of Citadel Broadcasting, the radio company.
Next: What he'll be paid
Within a day or so, GCI will likely file a statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, laying out the terms of Saleh's hiring, including his base pay and any stock awards given as part of his employment contract.
In 2009, prior to being named COO, Martore got paid $659,615 in salary, plus a $950,000 cash bonus. Her total compensation for that year, with stock options and gains in her retirement account: $4 million. (2009 pay for GCI's top five executives.)
I wonder if Saleh is 30 years old? Maybe 42? How about 89? Apparently, Corporate's communications and investor relations departments don't think shareholders should know.
ReplyDeleteHow long will it take the lemmings to dump on the new guy. Haters start your engines!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is this "marketing solutions" stuff? Is this about transforming Gannett into a huge marketing/public relations company?
ReplyDeleteI'm not being a wise guy. I'd like to know.
I've seen references to it occasionally on the blog, but no manager or corporate bigwig has ever explained it to me or any of the other worker bees at my site.
Is this what's behind cutting the staff by 5,000, 10,000 people? And what's with that anyway? It pops up here one day and then gone the next.
What's going on?
And how'd that whole Sprint-Nextel thing work out? Oh, right. http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-sprints-merger-nextel-still-one-worst/2010-08-16
ReplyDeleteHi, Paul! Welcome to Gannettland!
ReplyDeleteWow Martore made $4 Million 1n 2009! Fireing people is a profitable buisness.
ReplyDeleteJim, c'mon, do a little homework. Don't think citing age in a press release is really appropriate. A quick google search and you find his birth year as 1957. His resume and work experience alone show he's not a recent college graduate.
ReplyDeleteWhy? At least twice this year, Corporate included the names of executives' spouses and children in press releases. How is that appropriate?
ReplyDeleteSome press releases include age, some don't. Some include meaningless family information, others don't. Typical Gannett - inconsistent in approach and poor at communicating.
ReplyDeleteHere's a guy who took Sprint-Nextel stock from $24 to $3 in the three years he was there, so I guess he's an absolutely fantastic fit for GCI. Couldn't we find a winner someplace?
ReplyDeletePosted this on another thread but its worth repeating: Can we give this new guy (Saleh) a chance before we start picking at his bones?
ReplyDeleteAgreed on that here, too, 10:14.
ReplyDeleteLast person to join Gannett from Sprint was Robin Pence. Seems like Gannett wanted to recruit locally and not pay any relocation fees ala Dickey, Hunke.
ReplyDeleteNow Dubow and Martore can say they have a "real" mobile expert on staff from the worlds worst mobile company!
Aim high Gannett...Aim high!
This could be a move in the right direction. I always thought that giving Gracia control over finances was a huge mistake since she has a liberal arts degree from Wellesley and absolutely no background in finance except, presumably, balancing the family checkbook. Her years as the weakest CFO I've ever seen only solidified my views.
ReplyDeleteThis guy at least has a background that shows he knows finance. Now let's see him use it to put the books right.
I have to say that some of the best finance people I know have liberal arts or music backgrounds.
ReplyDeleteMusic makes sense with math involved. But liberal arts with its emphasis on ethics, morality and the meaning of life doesn't help out much when the figures just don't add up.
ReplyDeleteI'll dump on this right from the start because I think it's a poor, yet predictable hire by GCI. Just like the Bills hiring another washed up coach who has failed elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteIt's GCI's professional corporate execs hiring more professional corporate execs. These people don't know how to manage and grow a media company, all they know how to do is make stock prices go up.
Well, maybe not Saleh, who helped tank Sprint/Nextel, another poorly run company.
My guess is he wasn't even a serious candidate until he mentioned his compensation requirements. He asked for $50,000 less than the better candidates was hired immediately.
ReplyDeleteHe will feel right at home. Sprint's stock has traded as high as $71.22 and today closed at $3.74
ReplyDelete