AT&T CEO Stepping Down > pay package

pay package

from today's St Louis Post Dispatch:

By MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer
Whitacre, 65, had another year on his contract, but Patrick Comack, an analyst for Zachary Investment Research, said Whitacre's decision to leave sends him out on top.

"He built AT&T into a juggernaut," said Comack, who is often critical of AT&T because of the ongoing competition it faces from cable television. "He's highly respected on Wall Street, a straight shooter."

He'll collect more than $161.6 million, including $73.8 million in deferred compensation and the $84.7 million in his pension fund in his retirement package. He'll also make more than $1 million per year for three years as a consultant for the company, according to AT&T's proxy statement. During that time, his benefits will continue and he'll get some tax help, including the payment of about $15,600 in taxes per year.

But with the stock trading at a five-year high, three shareholder-driven initiatives to limit compensation and pension funds for AT&T executives have failed.

"I'm not sure anyone is worth that kind of money, but if anybody is going to get it, at least he did his job," Comack said of Whitacre.

Because of recent successes, the board approved a 6.2 percent increase in monthly benefits for AT&T's oldest and poorest retirees. Roughly 88,000 former employees who retired before 1996 and receive less than $1,200 per month will get the increase starting in October, Whitacre announced Friday.
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What's certain about Darwinism is that it would take less time for (1) a single-celled organism to evolve into a human being through mutation and natural selection than for (2) Darwinists to admit they have no proof of (1) - Ann Coulter

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