‘Pay czar’ would revamp compensation
TEXT OF STORY
Steve Chiotakis: We keep hearing that President Obama’s been looking for ways to rein in executive compensation for companies using those bailout dollars — at big amounts of it. Today, we could finally hear what the administration has in mind. Ashley Milne-Tyte reports.
Ashley Milne-Tyte: The president could name a so-called “pay czar” at any moment. That person will be able to decide how much compensation executives at bailed-out firms can receive.
Reports say the man who’ll take the job is Kenneth Feinberg. He oversaw the compensation of victims of 9/11.
Jim Cox teaches securities law at Duke University. He says the existence of a government-appointed overseer will affect plenty of firms that aren’t even under his watch.
Jim Cox: I really think that another aspect of the pay czar would be galvanizing investor reaction against pay packages. So we’re gonna see more proposals from stockholders regarding pay.
Cox says huge paychecks are fine, as long as executives really deserve them. The administration has already made clear it wants to see pay tied to long-term performance rather than short-term gains.
In New York, I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.
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