GM CEO Secures $4.6 Million Pension Despite LayOff

[Guest Josh]

As General Motors slashes jobs, closes plants and battles to avoid bankruptcy, the company’s CEO has set up a retirement plan that will pay him at least $4.6 million a year – nearly twice his current salary.

G. Richard Wagoner, who the New York Post calls "the greediest, most undeserving CEO since Chainsaw Al Dunlap,” was named GM’s chief financial officer in 1992, when the company had a global payroll of 750,000 employees.

Under Wagoner’s command as CFO and, since 2000, CEO, the carmaker has seen its employees dwindle to 324,000.

Now the company has announced plans to cut 30,000 more jobs and close 12 North American plants, and Wagoner is denying rampant rumors that GM is preparing for file for bankruptcy protection.

Full Story: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/11/28/102638.shtml

[Guest Josh]

The news stories that slip by us all as we are too busy reading about what the "bigger boys" are saying. Wagoner has secured his own pension of $4.6 Million A YEAR amidst these challenging times for G.M. Man, give Lutz the reigns now, and not later when it's too late.

[Lexcar14]

UNBELIEVABLE! Maybe this is a hint that Wagoner may be leaving soon? He seems awfully interested in securing his retirement while the company is slipping! He should be worried about securing some RWD platforms, new engines, and fresh designs, instead of worrying about his pension. This guy needs to go before it's too late.

[tosil]

Man... this guy peaves me right off..... he's not worth the sweat off my b4!!$, let alone $4.6 million, and per year at that..... WTF?... what a joke. I can't believe they would ruin people's lives based on bad discisions in the past, by letting them go, and than pocketing all that money... I have no respect what so ever for you Mr. Wagoner. Edited November 29, 2005 by tosil

[Guest buickman]

Josh, We need to do that interview. Buickman

[prototype66]

WHAT!!! WHERE IS THE "YOU SUCK CLAUSE"?

[razoredge]

4.6 million per year ? how will he ever survive on that ? Sure makes that million he put down on stock seem like buying a lottery ticket........no ?

4.6 million is nothing compared to the billions lost on the Fiat deal..........glad to see hes being well compensated for giving it "his best".

reduced employment opertunities by over 50%, Well I guess thats a real great contribution to socioty, surely worthy of a annual pension far exceeding the average Americans lifetime gross ?

Well I suppose he has a few huge estates to manage, I hope he can get by

It amazes me whats legal and whats illegal in this country

Behold the head of a traitor !

[aaaantoine]

I've lost all respect for Wagoner. Do you have any idea what sort of impact this will have on purchases? All the people that will now refuse to buy GM on principle!? What about the union? They're going to be pretty damn pissed. First Delphi cuts the wages of its workers substantially. Then they give bonuses to their execs. Union backlash was sure to come, but GM - and you, Mr. Wagoner - stepped in to smooth things over. GM itself lays off 30,000 people; men and women with mouths to feed. And then YOU secure yourself a $4.6M/year pension!? How does this look to the 30,000 people who lost their jobs? How does it look to the Delphi workers who are taking pay cuts and are already pissed at the execs, hoping that maybe, just maybe you would be able to intervene without making an ass of yourself. I hope this is some kind of sick joke, because now the UAW won't want to concede as far as you were hoping. Now you will STILL have those legacy costs that have been hammering at GM for the past 20+ years. Now there's an even GREATER threat of a crippling strike! Oh, but wait... This doesn't affect you, does it? Once you're retired, you don't give a DAMN what happens to GM? As long as they can afford your pension...

[bowtie_dude]

His company is about to tank and the idiot decides to pay himself almost 5 mil a year when he won't even be working, excuse me, running the company into the ground? Wow... Where GM's board of trustees on THAT one? edit cleaned up post Edited November 29, 2005 by Josh

[the_yellow_dart]

Does anyone else think the UAW is the wrong group to f**k with? If he goes through with this I bet he doesn't live a year past retirement.

[Matt276]

Wagoner has to go, he's never been a car guy anyway. Lutz should be named. I'm sure the day right after, we would see a real GM emerge.

[91z4me]

Wagoner has to go, he's never been a car guy anyway. Lutz should be named. I'm sure the day right after, we would see a real GM emerge.

[post="50030"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Rick NEVER pretended to be a car guy. He knew that he needed the right people so he brought in a bunch of people from other companies, Lutz included. I don't think Maximum Bob wants the reigns to the company. He is in his late 70s and has got a job which I am sure he loves. He gets to help shape the cars of the future without worrying about the board breathing down his back or worrying about the plants or other things. He just helps shape the cars, sounds like the perfect job if you ask me.

Edit: That said I just lost a lot of respect for Mr. Wagoner. :angry: Edited November 29, 2005 by 91z4me

[Guest buickman]

From a page at www.GeneralWatch.com Corruption vs. Ineptitude in GM "Corruption" “the act of … impairing integrity, virtue, or moral principle;” “dishonest proceedings” “illegal activities that reduce efficiency” “violation of duty…an act of self interest harmful to the organization Examples of corruption and ineptitude were shown at the Shareholder's luncheon presentation following the annual stockholder's meeting on June 2, 2004 “Ineptitude” “inappropriate” “absurd or foolish” “incompetent” “inefficient” “unskillfulness resulting from a lack of training” View presentation Market Share on Market Street III Preview of subjects to be analyzed at Market Share on Market Street III - Corruption vs. Ineptitude Corporate Governance: Board of Directors Auditors Management Marketing: GM Card Overnight Test Drive Road to Redemption Lease Pull Ahead Accelerated Model Years Incremental Price Increases Distress Merchandising from Advertising to Rebates-why they're bad and Rebates-how to get rid of them. "Everybody makes mistakes but your management makes so many of them. The proof of their incompetence is the number of mistakes. There is absolutely no reason to think that this will change. The same people who made the mistakes are still in charge. -- Jerry Flint, 2000 HOME | THE PAST | THE PRESENT | THE FUTURE | NEWS WATCH | SHAREHOLDER NEWS | WATCH BLOG | BUICKMAN Page Hits: 101,159

[Guest carpetbagger]

GO WAGONER!

i agree with razoredge, wagoner deserves this money

[Guest buickman]

Are you confused?

[nyscene911]

Wagoner is being retarded as hell here. How can you possible expect a large group of people to make concessions when you aren't making any yourself. Hell, your giving yourself a huge raise! It seems that poor leadership still runs rampant at GM

[tama z71]

WHAT!!!  WHERE IS THE "YOU SUCK CLAUSE"?

[post="50023"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

That one gets "quote of the year".

[BuddyP]

Absolutly unreal. I'm speechless. The best thing he could do right now is to turn around and put that money right back into the business when he get's it. Lutz for President!....er... CEO!!!

[ocnblu]

Not that I'm defending Rick Wagoner's actions here, but... there are plenty of precedents for this kind of thing. Yes, it's wrong, but not unheard of.

He should get $100k a year to live on and a brand new Avalon every two years for life.

[thegriffon]

This from a site with stories like "John McCain: Torture Worked on Me", and quoting the Post? After-tax dollars from a source protected from a GM bankruptcy? What kind of two-bit hack wrote this?

[cmattson]

Not to get too political; but Newsmax has a political bend to it. It mixes fact and fiction at will. I'd hardly consider it a credible source. However, I'm not debunking the story -- I'm just saying that Newmax shouldn't be your most trusted news source. Now, if we specualte that Wagoneer is getting in on a $4.6m/year pension, all the while GM is in well-speculated struggles, could one look into such an event that Wagonner is only interested in his pension because he could soon be using it?

[regfootball]

Not that I'm defending Rick Wagoner's actions here, but... there are plenty of precedents for this kind of thing.  Yes, it's wrong, but not unheard of.

He should get $100k a year to live on and a brand new Avalon every two years for life.

[post="50110"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

or a nice Kia Amanti with a minidisc player in dash

[regfootball]

this is absurd. wagoner should be let go now, with no pension.

[drew770]

Where is the GM board? They should be showing Wagoner the door for this action. But, GM has one of the weakest boards in corporate America so they will do nothing but sit and hide. This is another example of bad decision making from Wagoner!

[thegriffon]

It would be the board that decides Wagoner's compensation. Unless you're a majorty shareholder you don't get to give yourself a payrise.

[Lexcar14]

Now I support giving Kerkorian a seat on the GM board!!

[91z4me]

Now I support giving Kerkorian a seat on the GM board!!

[post="50159"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

You do realize he would just sell off anything that would be profitable and then take his money and run, right?

[Angry Dad]

This "news" release is too unbelievable to accept. If Rick came out and acknowledged this plan I will believe it. Until then this is a hoax. I think the rest of you are getting your chain yanked.

[Guest carpetbagger]

this is getting good Edited November 30, 2005 by carpetbagger

[4gm]

If UAW members get pensions for bolting cars together then certainly any person who heads GM, a multi-national, multi-billion dollar corporation, should get one as well. Edited November 30, 2005 by 4gm

[tosil]

He should be payed based on performance.... GM doesn't make money, Wagoner doesn't get payed... I still have a hard time with this... how much of that money could be used to save jobs?... $4.6 mill.... 115 workers @ $40,000 per years, 115 families, some with kids, bills and so on... heck make it less per year... even though this may not sound realistic, just a point I'm trying to get across...

[cmattson]

A companies board of directors are usually made up of executives from other companies (of whom Wagoneer and other GM brass probably sit as board members). As a result you have a bit of the 'fox guarding the hen-house' type of situation. A board usually will turn their head when it comes to executive compensation packages -- and they expect (and usually get) the same in return.

[sciguy_0504]

I can't find anything searching Google News on this under the keywords "Rick Wagoner" and "Rick Wagoner pension" so I believe this is either a sick hoax, wishful thinking, really late-breaking news or an article written for the future.

[greg_nate]

The news stories that slip by us all as we are too busy reading about what the "bigger boys" are saying. Wagoner has secured his own pension of $4.6 Million A YEAR amidst these challenging times for G.M.

Man, give Lutz the reigns now, and not later when it's too late.

[post="49961"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

...at a time when I need something to make me feel good about GM, this comes out. It just makes me sick.

The UAW has to make some valid concessions with GM and Delphi...but after this, I don't expect anything more than token. And ya know what? Part of me says I don't blame them either. If people are going to drive GM into the dirt, then they might as well get their fair share too. FYI, I am not a union lover. But I am no Wagoner lover either.

Wagoner needs to go.

A story posted on here a week ago had a quote from Wagoner saying someting to the effect of, "I don't know for sure if we're gonna make it". That is just poor leadership. A good leader would have been telling the troops encouraging words and backing them up with a good plan. Edited November 30, 2005 by greg_nate

[Angry Dad]

What will people be posting when they find out this is all crap? You people are getting played. Think! Wagoner is years away from any retirement, he can't write his own plan. Are you people that gullible? Edited November 30, 2005 by Angry Dad

[Angry Dad]

Some are apparently.

And I'll be the first to say Im wrong if this headline is screaming across the Detroit News tomorrow.

[post="50360"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Will those taken in by this baloney do the same when they find out they were sapped?

I hope so.

This "story" broke at aprox. noon Detroit time. Absolutely none of the real wire services picked up on it. It's almost 10 pm Detroit time. The story is nowhere to be found from a real source.

There's no way any business reporter wouldn't want to hang his name on this one.

See any? Nope.

It's sad that this site got sucked in, so have a few others.

But in today's world, anything anybody fabricates on the net if slick enough can pull in saps. Sad thing is the GM workers will pay for this sick joke.

[Guest Josh]

First thing first. We go by trusted avenues for our news. If one posts something, nearly every other one pick it up. It's not my fault if we picked it up first, followed by GMInsideSnooze.

So, it's not we got sucked in. It's we posted it first, but others have leached because it was a hot topic. True or not, I'm not one to decide. We just relay information from the presses. This was picked up on by a news story that was also linked from DetNews.com So, take it as you will. If it's from the DetroitNews.com I guess I'm the idiot for thinking it's impartial.

We all know how impartial the Detroit News is to General Motors and Ford, yet both companies continue to support the "Detroit" papers.

So, this site did not get sucked in. I gave a link to a story that was picked up by a major news collection and others decided to leach off of us.

[Cory Wolfe]

Well... if it's true... I'll be gathering people for a riot to remove Wagoner and perhaps kill him after we torture him live on camera. If not, I'll still do it. He needs removed regardless... As much as I am not a fan of Lutz, he is more of a car guy than Wagoner can ever dream of being and he isn't a complete idiot either. So... PM me if you're interesting in rioting. Its free and you might get beat on Wagoner! It'll be a party, baby! I've almost got the torches ready... fun, fun. :) :D

[Guest Josh]

The same company that spreads links of Detroit News stories (read: same owners) is the same source I got this story from as well as many others on the 'web. It's more of a "back door" to gain access to stories from other news sources throughout the web.

[Angry Dad]

The same company that spreads links of Detroit News stories (read: same owners) is the same source I got this story from as well as many others on the 'web. It's more of a "back door" to gain access to stories from other news sources throughout the web.

[post="50424"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

No confirmation.

Who's the reporter?

That alone makes this stink to high heaven.

[Guest Josh]

The reporter is at the link. That's why we give links. We quote the story partially or fully depending on who posts the story, but there is almost always a link.

In terms of me, there's always a partial story then the link.

Take it up with the big dawgs in this. I report what is given to me. I pass this on and it is discussed here.

Nobody has ever, ever posted a story on their sites from the source I quoted all until we did. Should we bring back the disclaimer that we hold no responsibility about news stories unless it's under the C&G Headlines catagory? That's what it seems like.

[Angry Dad]

This is an editorial opinion. It is not a report. He gives no sources. It's like anybody writing to a message board.

[4gm]

Maybe someone was trying to figure out who was leaking information to the media so they deliberately fed Josh's source some faulty information to see what would happen...

[Angry Dad]

Every single story on the site has the same byline. Who is "With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff " Just like every "credible" news source.

[Guest Josh]

Every single story on the site has the same byline.

Who is "With Carl Limbacher and NewsMax.com Staff "

Just like every "credible" news source.

[post="50447"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Again, if you dont like the source, go after the source. Partial news story with a link to the full story including web-site, e-mail address and everything else that suits your fancy.

Don't know what else to tell ya other than that.

[RJB]

Nothing like stuffing your pockets as the ship is sinking and then heading for the nearest lifeboat. Disgusting! Take a page from Bill Ford, even though he is still getting money, take a cut, make some sacrifices, do something other than saying in the faces of all those 30,000 people getting axed... Screw You Guys!

[Angry Dad]

Again, if you dont like the source, go after the source. Partial news story with a link to the full story including web-site, e-mail address and everything else that suits your fancy.

Don't know what else to tell ya other than that.

[post="50448"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

In my opinion, the story is a fraud.

The title of the thread is too.

Why not a fair title:

"Unfounded report about Wagoner's pension posted"

This story had only one purpose, to inflame the public and for some strange reason it got sent to you on the same day the UAW started picketing Delphi.

Just because you may have been misled does not give you the "privilege" to mislead others.

Change the title to something realistic. That's fair, don't kid yourself, the same phony story is running on other sites with the same title and yes people are seeing through it. Be the leader and throw the source for this trash into the fire. If they have the balls to write this crap they will come out and defend it. I don't think you will see a single thing from your source. They're cowards.

BTW on this site, you are the source. You can do better than this. Edited November 30, 2005 by Angry Dad

[Shantanu]

Why does Rick Wagoner even need a pension? He's made millions during his lifetime, and has enough cash to live comfortably for the rest of his life. But the main point here is that what does GM get from paying this guy when he's retired and not adding any value to the company? This is just dumb, all around.

[aaaantoine]

If this is a hoax, I wish to rescind my previous post. I hate the damn tabloids. :angry: Edited November 30, 2005 by aaaantoine

[haypops]

Newsmax is fairly well know right wing funded rag. Don't blame Josh if he got suckered. These people are unreliable and that's charitable.