A farewell package of $89K -- per month?

A former GE executive lines up a nice perk after leaving the company.

By Kim Peterson Dec 26, 2012 4:52PM
A General Electric Co. logo Fabrice Dimier/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesJohn Krenicki put in 29 years at General Electric (GE), working his way up to lead the company's energy unit. He was an important guy there, one that Fortune speculated could be CEO one day.

Instead, he's retiring at the end of this year and will get a nice perk from the company: An $89,000 monthly allowance until he turns 60. He's about 50 now, so it will all add up to more than $10 million. In return, the company says in a regulatory filing, Krenicki can't go work for a competing company for three years.

This news was buried in a GE filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year and uncovered by the ever-vigilant blog Footnoted. It's now in first place in Footnoted's annual contest for the worst item of the year.

Krenicki will also get a cash bonus of at least $2.9 million for 2012. He also gets to vest at age 60 under GE's supplementary pension plan. And Footnoted notes that some 2 million stock options that had not vested as of last year will now vest. GE's stock price was at $20.79 Wednesday, so Krenicki stands to pocket some serious change by selling shares.

Krenicki was a lifer at GE, and his career was profiled in Fortune last year. He relocated his family 11 times while at the company, including two stints in Europe. He led the plastics division for nearly three years before he was promoted to run the energy division. He admitted to Fortune that he didn't want to become CEO of the company -- an early indicator, perhaps, that he was on the way to retirement.

By the way, Footnoted has another candidate for worst item of the year that I like even better. Dell (DELL) spent $1.9 million to move executive Stephen Schuckenbrock from Round Rock, Texas, to Plano, Texas. That's quite a pricey move for going 200 miles. About $1.5 million of that total was to pay Schuckenbrock for the loss on the sale of his house in Round Rock.

Schuckenbrock didn't stay for very long after the move. Earlier this month, he resigned "to seek new opportunities."

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231Comments
Ramstein2013
Dec 27, 2012 10:04AM
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"Krenicki was a lifer at GE, and his career was profiled in Fortune last year. He relocated his family 11 times while at the company, including two stints in Europe."

 

Go figure - my spouse was a lifer in the military who relocated his family 13 times while at the company including two stints in Europe.  Pretty sure he's making about 5% of what this guy is making.....I guess its way more important to be an exec for the electric company than it is to devote your life to the defense and protection of your country....

Richard Pyles (alphatrid)
Dec 27, 2012 9:39AM
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There is no media or fairness in media /after this years election I no longer by union products or from companys that started here and moved headquarters somewhere else to save from paying taxes here like GE.
kevsteck
Dec 27, 2012 8:58AM
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Hey, if he earned it fine.  I see all the poor little whiners are out in full force again.  Morons!
Brutus625
Dec 27, 2012 8:44AM
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This man did everything right, and now we're supposed to hate him for it?  He went to school and got an education.  He worked his butt off and sacrificed and devoted 29 years of his life to a company.  He uprooted his family and moved them all over the world 11 times.  He made smart financial decisions by participating in stock purchase and pension plans.  He used his skills to negotiate a good compensation and benefit package.  And there's no telling how much value he added to GE.  But we're supposed to hate him because he's going to make millions of dollars for his effort?  And worse yet, the same people who despise this man have no problem championing someone who chooses to drop out of school, who chooses to have illegitimate children they can't afford, who chooses to not pay their bills, who chooses to participate in illegal activities, who chooses to rely on handouts for support instead of working, etc...  Instead of being despised, this Mr. Krenicki should be celebrated and admired and looked to as an example of the success that can be obtained through education, sacrifice and hard work.
waraksas
Dec 27, 2012 8:13AM
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Why is this newsworthy? Hell, BO chews that up on Air Force 1  and that's our money. How about a nice article on how much taxpayer money BO has spent in his first 4 years on little pleasure trips or on his campaign? That'll boggle the mind. 
Momof4cutiesyay
Dec 27, 2012 8:06AM
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I'm sorry but I don't see why everyone hates this guy. Do we all hate Bill Gates? Did we hate Steve Jobs? Look at all the people in the entertainment industry we could hate on too. Just because this guy worked for a company for 29 year, was moved around 11 times, and is now benefitting from it everyone is hating on him. He went to school, landed a great job and made the company a lot of money. Not sure why this is so controversial. If there was some criminal activity going on then I can see why the all the anger.
waraksas
Dec 27, 2012 7:53AM
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There's only 1 plate I'm concerned about----mine. If you make a zillion or a pittance, I could care less. When my business becomes yours, there the problem lies. Classic case of hate mongering.

Graustark
Dec 27, 2012 4:58AM
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Stories like this really hurt the morale and spirit of the average American trying to stay solvent and make enough to pay his or her bills. The boys and girls at the top of our society have turned capitalism into a cult whereby the rich get rich and the poor get poorer. A lot of Americans are starting to believe that the whole system is falling apart and there isn't anything they can do about it. I think some Americans wish the whole system would fall apart so we can start all over again.

 

There are a number of people who were raised in the Roman Catholic religion who have abandoned the religion, such as myself, because of the wealthy lifestyle exhibited by popes and cardinals when the masses are struggling to survive.

jenn fisher (morefun)
Dec 27, 2012 4:44AM
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(1) of many ways GE continues to avoid paying taxes. Paying out a (under the table) RETIREMENT DEAl, circumvents company rules. This Deal  gets recorded for as a company cost = Less Net Income =  Tax Evasion/ less taxes paid.        IRS should prosecute G.E.

Other GE pensioners should call for an investigation. 

 

Specifically Human Resources should be investigated  and anyone who approved this retirement payout  should be fired and prosecuted for manipulation of funds.

 

Someone or (several)  specifically approved this,   Who and why?  Stockholders should be appalled.

 

 Business Owners and Corporate Businesses  who play by the rules pay their fair share of taxes should be OUTRAGED. 

EricTheRon13
Dec 27, 2012 4:23AM
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It's the GE and Dell stockholders who should be screaming about this, since they're the ones getting jerked around. They should elect board members who will police this kind of glad-handouts between the corporate officers.
Batter-Up
Dec 27, 2012 3:38AM
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And where has the stock gone?  Including mine!  I've held it way too long.  The company is nothing but a bunch of vampires.
Batter-Up
Dec 27, 2012 3:31AM
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I don't have words strong enough to describe scum like this jerk and his supporters like oldchum below.  A million+ per year--come on.  The country is insane.  Take away 80% of it, leave him with $200K+/year and use the rest to invest in some promising innovative companies, say 5 a year at $200K each/year--or provide some housing and help for the homeless.  Those, like oldchum, deserve cancer or worse.
Patrick Gallimore
Dec 27, 2012 3:20AM
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GE is one of the wealthiest and most powerful companies, in the U.S., and, indeed, the world...I have no problem, with, this retiring CEO, receiving, a monthly allowance of $89,000, over, the ten years, subsequent to, his retirement...I assume, that, under his watch, the company made a fortune, in order to justify this relatively large payout package...It makes me wonder how much the former, and, perhaps, most well known CEO of GE, Jack Welsh, was paid, after, he went into retirement, after, serving, in that capacity, for, twenty years...What I find funny, is, that, the country's most powerful CEO, and, the one, that, runs the LARGEST organization, gets paid only - when compared, to, the salary (or, for that matter, pension), of, a CEO of a large organization - a, relatively, miniscule annual salary, of, $400,000...Of course, this is what differentiates how things work in the privately sector, versus, how things work in the public sector...All that aside, I don't think we should ridicule this retiring CEO and/or GE, because, of, the hefty monthly allowance the company will paying out and/or the retiring CEO will be receiving...I, say, good for him and good for GE, because, it means, that, GE is doing very well and, that, they (the company), puts a large value on their CEO...We ought not to engage in mockery, simply, because, we are not financially as comfortable as this retiring CEO...Instead, let's be happy for the man and hope, that, not only himself and his family benefits, from, his future wealth, but, also, that, he will be philanthropic and donate a portion of that money to worthy and needy causes.
swr1960
Dec 27, 2012 2:11AM
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Isn't GE Obama's friend?
kpm M
Dec 27, 2012 1:32AM
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OOPS ... thought it was GM ... well I guess I will be buying other competitors appliances from now on....holy crap on a cracker.


Kimberly (kmkkeller)
Dec 27, 2012 1:30AM
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The reason that this man makes so much money is because he has done amazing things for GE. There are, I repeat, are people who deserve to make a butt load of cash.  He and GE followed the rules, he participated in decades of stock buying options and I would like to think that if someone is brilliant and responsible about money they can be a multimillionaire.  GE makes a ton of money,  the GE Capital division is a huge money maker for the company, and while yes they do have overseas workers they have hundreds of thousands in the US as well.  Is it a crime to be a world wide company.  GE is one of the best companies around and we should be proud that they started it in the USA.
kpm M
Dec 27, 2012 1:28AM
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WTF ... I guess I am not going to buy another GM vehicle.  that is REDICULOUS!!!!   I guess whoever buys GM will be paying his pension for 10 years... I WON'T be.
Roger P
Dec 27, 2012 1:27AM
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Our government has been stealing and getting fat off the tax payers for years. Give all government employees including the legislative, executive and judicial the same retirement as us, require them to have a 401 or some type of retirement account or retire broke. Things would change for the better.
Mr. Anthrope
Dec 27, 2012 1:21AM
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I'm really not sure what purpose running these stories serves.  I guess the majority of the population who is struggling to survive doesn't feel angry or bad enough.  Thanks a lot, MSN.  The National Inquirer of the internet.
deficitsdontmattercheney
Dec 27, 2012 1:13AM
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This is what is wrong with this country, some entitled goodl ole boy with at best average intelligence who just happens to be in the right club gets paid a zillion dollars to do HIS JOB, and if he screws up his job he gets a Zillion dollar golden parachute or gets bailed out by the middle class.

 

Tax these scum at the same level Reagan did, end of story. Let the Republican Nazi party scream all they want, these anti-American greedy scum need to pay taxes at the same rate they did when that commie Rondald Reagan was president.

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