Hostess CEO cuts everyone's pay but his
Gregory Rayburn argues that because he isn't on the Hostess payroll, he should still get his full $125,000 a month.
The CEO of Hostess Brands is getting widely criticized for taking his full salary while cutting everyone else's pay by 8%.Gregory Rayburn will still get his $125,000 a month, or $1.5 million a year, the company told The Huffington Post. His logic is that because he isn't on the Hostess payroll, he doesn't have to take part in the company-wide pay cut.
Rayburn looks at himself as temporary, telling The New York Post he's more like outside help and therefore entitled to his full salary. He said he will leave Hostess when he's no longer needed, the Post reports.
Rayburn joined Hostess in February as chief restructuring officer, and one month later was named president and CEO. He's also on the board of directors.
To be fair, Rayburn is taking some measures to rein in his pay. He was eligible to get a bonus of between $375,000 and $1.125 million, but decided to give up the money, The Huffington Post reports. And Rayburn and three other top executives are taking $1 for the rest of the year in pay, but their full salaries will be reinstated in January.
That's small comfort to the rank-and-file employees who watched a number of Hostess executives get sweet pay raises and bonuses as the company barreled into bankruptcy. The company wants 19 top managers to stay with Hostess as it moves into the liquidation phase, and got approval from a bankruptcy judge to award up to $1.75 million in retainment bonuses.
The execs only get those bonuses if they perform specific tasks related to easing the operational wind-down, a company spokesman told The Los Angeles Times. Rayburn won't be getting a bonus.
At least 15,000 Hostess employees are losing their jobs in bankruptcy, but Hostess wants to keep about 3,200 to help wind down operations.
Hostess cracked under nearly $1 billion in debt, and blame for its demise can be spread far and wide. Private-equity firms funding the company couldn't get it off the ground. When consumers lost interest in carbs and sugar, the biggest innovation Hostess could come up with was banana-filling Twinkies. Although union members agreed to steep concessions over the years, it still failed to adjust to new realities. The old CEO, Brian Driscoll, suddenly bailed in March without explanation, Fortune reports.
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once again we see the greedy corporate ceo's walk away with a sweet deal that they help set up for themselves, meanwhile claiming they are not really part of the company- but outside help ! "Maybe that's part of they problem that they are not invested in the company or the future of it for the workers to keep their jobs. Seems like a conflict of interest as he and his cronies- other executives get big a big fat bonus while the hard working people of hostess don't even get paid their vacation pay or benefits owed to them since it is liquidated !!!! How can he even sleep at night !! !Sorry i'm not worried about his health insurance benefits - i'm sure he has that hidden somewhere and is taken care of. Meanwhile my husband has taken 2yrs of pay cuts for working 50+ hrs a week - of course with no overtime !!! Choke on a twinkie Rayburn !!!
While I agree he makes a lot of money, it is realative to many other CEOs. With that in mind why aren't we all up in arms about the exorbitant amounts of money that professional athletes make? This guys $1.5M a year is peanuts compared to almost every pro athlete in America. Who can afford to go to an NBA game any more? When top athletes make $10-$20M a season not counting endorsements that is outrageous! The owners are often making more than that, again outrageous! Then there are actors who make up to $20M for one movie. Outrageous!
Well I guess if I don't have a marketable skill that will pay me that kind of money then no one else should be able to make that much either. Let's set all wages the same no matter what you do or what skill you have everyone should make the same. The government should set the wages we make and then we'd all have the same. Wealth redistribution determined by the federal government that is what we need. That will solve all our financial problems. Good Luck with that!
Another example of the way those at the top have such little connection with the reality of the current economy, or what is happening in their own company. No one needs that much money. Does anyone really deserves that much money, especially if the company or organization he or she is running is going under?
I'd bet dollars to donuts that he's all for keeping the Bush tax cuts, too, which is no more than an ENTITLEMENT program for the rich! Hippocrites, all of them.
How much longer will the "peasant class" (aka the 99%) of the United States take it before they storm the "Bastille," and remove these kinds of people from power?
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