Less than a month after becoming chief financial officer, Victoria Harker has been elected to the board of directors of Huntington Ingalls Industries of Newport News, Va., the company announced today. Huntington designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard.
As a director, Harker will be paid at least $100,000 in cash plus receive $100,000 worth of restricted stock, according to regulatory filings. She also could get as much as $20,000 more, depending on whether she's appointed to any committees.
Harker, 47, was named GCI's CFO on July 23.
She also is a director at Xylem, a 2011 spinoff from ITT Corp., and Darden Restaurants. In June, she also was appointed to the University of Virginia's board of visitors.
At the risk of stating the obvious, corporate director jobs are time-consuming -- when they're taken seriously. It's noteworthy indeed that Harker would assume yet another such post when she's just getting her feet wet in what's arguably the second most-important job at GCI, a company with considerable challenges of its own.
Still, it's certain that CEO Gracia Martore OK'd this move, and GCI's board no doubt was included in that decision as well.
Racking up fees
At Xylem, a water technology provider, directors such as Harker also are paid $100,000 in cash, plus $90,000 in restricted shares. As chair of the audit committee, Harker gets an additional $15,000 fee.
At Darden in its most recent fiscal year, Harker was paid $210,993 -- including $111,000 in cash and $99,993 in stock awards. She's been a director there since 2009, and is a member of the audit committee. Darden's brands include Red lobster and Olive Garden. It's based in Orlando.
At GCI, Harker is not a board member. As CFO, she's to be paid a $625,000 annual base salary. And she'll be eligible for bonuses, too.
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| Harker |
Harker, 47, was named GCI's CFO on July 23.
She also is a director at Xylem, a 2011 spinoff from ITT Corp., and Darden Restaurants. In June, she also was appointed to the University of Virginia's board of visitors.
At the risk of stating the obvious, corporate director jobs are time-consuming -- when they're taken seriously. It's noteworthy indeed that Harker would assume yet another such post when she's just getting her feet wet in what's arguably the second most-important job at GCI, a company with considerable challenges of its own.
Still, it's certain that CEO Gracia Martore OK'd this move, and GCI's board no doubt was included in that decision as well.
Racking up fees
At Xylem, a water technology provider, directors such as Harker also are paid $100,000 in cash, plus $90,000 in restricted shares. As chair of the audit committee, Harker gets an additional $15,000 fee.
At Darden in its most recent fiscal year, Harker was paid $210,993 -- including $111,000 in cash and $99,993 in stock awards. She's been a director there since 2009, and is a member of the audit committee. Darden's brands include Red lobster and Olive Garden. It's based in Orlando.
At GCI, Harker is not a board member. As CFO, she's to be paid a $625,000 annual base salary. And she'll be eligible for bonuses, too.
Nice work if you can get it.
ReplyDeleteUVa is NBD - have 33 members.
ReplyDeleteThat is, an org-mess like Penn State, which also had 33 board members. A joke, actually.
My guess is, she'll have to soon resign either the water or restaurant seat.
Three is WAY too many board seats. She's not Einstein, after all.
Good for her!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'd take it if I could get it. Good for her.
ReplyDeleteG.E., Disney, BOA and other top corporations have policies limiting execs to one corporate paid board, that is if they even allow them to join them at all and yet Gannett, a struggling company at best, allows Harker to join three.
ReplyDeleteIt’s absurd on many levels, most notably in that the average director puts in roughly 206 hours* and with Harker being on three that equates to more than 15 weeks of time doing work unrelated to Gannett.
Time to create a policy preventing such excess, hold Harker and others to it and if anyone refuses, send them packing.
* http://upstart.bizjournals.com/careers/Features/2007/07/03/Recruiting-Board-Members.html?page=all
7:17 For folks in her financial bracket, there are never enough income streams. She's enough of an Einstein to not leave money on the table. At the same time, I'm sure she's working 80-hour weeks for Gannett. Heh.
ReplyDeleteWRONG
ReplyDelete" .. 7:17 For folks in her financial bracket, there are never enough income streams. She's enough of an Einstein to not leave money on the table. At the same time, I'm sure she's working 80-hour weeks for Gannett. Heh .."
Really? Then provide info/URL on a another BW1000 CFO on three corporate boards. Waiting.
Class warfare/resentment -- wow, that will make your life better. /sarcasm/
Getting ready for her next gig apparently.
ReplyDeleteHarker's been at Gannett little more than a month and Matore the board believe's she has the capacity to learn about and fulfill her new as well serve three outside corporate boards.
ReplyDeleteThat sure as hell doesn't say much about the workload Matore had in that role, nor this company's interest in having its execs focused on it's needs first.
Then again, Banikarim exposed that low bar by what seems to be her shameless, self-promotion of herself at Gannett's continuing expense.
WHOA.
ReplyDelete"Harker's been at Gannett little more than a month and Matore the board believe's she has the capacity to learn about and fulfill her new as well serve three outside corporate boards .."
Excuse me -- how do you know that? Perhaps you are Mr. Harker?
Jim's right (and I am not his mommy) -- three corporate boards is too many. Heck, two are too many, given the mess that print is in. After MCI/WorldCom, Harker ought to know that, for God's sake.
If the next Q report comes in bad (good odds there), and she's still on three corporate boards -- the GCI board will have to ask hard questions or face potential liability issues.
This is "all hands on deck" time. Anything less is just B.S. and the shareholders know it.
How 12:02? With all due respect, it appears my comment was too cerebral for you as Jim noted the same by writing "Martore OK'd this move, and GCI's board no doubt was included in that decision as well.
ReplyDeleteSo let me simplify it for you: Like you, I believe three boards (plus VA's) is too much. Hence, Harker and others need to put 100% of ALL their energies on Gannett now, period, or they should leave.
11:20 AM
12:40 of course you believe that. You believe anything that takes an opposing view to a Gannett decision. You have no idea what a CFO does but you know if Gannett approved this it must be wrong. Grow up
DeleteAgree completely with 12:02. Our "leadership" needs to devote themselves fully to their jobs. Sitting on another company's board serves no purpose for Gannett. Unfortunatelty, these folks don't think that way.
ReplyDeleteIf Banikarim can spend the time on self promotional bs, Harker should be able to sit on as many boards as she wishes
ReplyDeletethis also greases the wheel for Martore to join more boards. It is all about connections at this level. being a c suite woman with CFO exphertise is icing on the cake.
ACTUALLY, COMPLICATED
ReplyDelete" .. my comment was too cerebral for you as Jim noted the same by writing "Martore OK'd this move, and GC rI's board no doubt was included in that decision as well .."
Not necessarily. First, due to SOX, BOTH M and H have to sign SEC documents. It is complex dance.
Further, due to SOX and other matters, the board may have higher access to H than before. Another complex dance.
At bottom: I'm sure others have called M and the board about this. That's common sense. One of the three corporate board seats has to go.
BTW: where that URL of another BW1000 CFO with three corporate board seats? Still waiting.
Romenesko linked to a related article in the Newport News Daily Press: "Huntington Ingalls insists selection of Gannett CFO to board wasn't meant to influence media coverage of the company." Oh really!
ReplyDeleteGannett is now fully intertwined with the military-industrial complex just like the rest of the major media. Unfortunately for us commoners, the Daily Press article is hidden behind a paywall.
HOW BAD IS PRINT DOING?
ReplyDeleteH needs to get her head on right. At the smaller, non-Gannett dailies, the staffs have "dead pools," predicting the date of their employers' demise.
Gad, this is 2012 Newspaper CFO 101. Cannot believe, we're actually doing this. Just insane.
P.S.: about the "military-industrial complex" -- if it was good enough for the Kennedys in Vietnam and Cuba, where's the problem?
Non-Kennedys actually have good ideas? OMG!
1:02 PM - Writing what you have without a shred of evidence (you’re wrong on both) only exposes your own infantilism and lack of intellectual prowess. Defending Gannett and Harker further exposes the latter even more.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, Martore and this board’s decision to ostensibly allow a newly hired CFO with less than one month under her belt to hold what is now three outside paid board seats, plus the state of Virginia’s, raises serious concerns about her capacity to fulfill her duties to Gannett and this board’s fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders.
Yet, you’re unconcerned by it all…why?
This is an obvious case of window-dressing by Huntington Ingalls, in more ways than one.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, with all the problems in the USA today (pun intended) -- no jobs, out-of-control spending and debt, mediocre products -- no one but GCI investors give a rip about this.
ReplyDelete---
This is an obvious case of window-dressing by Huntington Ingalls, in more ways than one.