Hallo zusammen,
hier News zu Worldcom:
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NEW YORK, Dec 10, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A federal judge criticized WorldCom Inc.'s proposed compensation plan for its incoming CEO Tuesday, warning he could still hand down a multibillion-dollar fine if the company doesn't show it is truly "committed to reform."
Manhattan federal court Judge Jed Rakoff issued a four-page memorandum order calling on representatives of the company to come to his court on Dec. 16 to discuss the compensation package for new Chief Executive Officer Michael Capellas.
A WorldCom filing in bankruptcy court said Capellas would be paid a signing bonus of $2 million, an annual salary of $1.5 million and a $1.5 million bonus guaranteed in 2003.
If the company doesn't live up to the compensation terms, Capellas can quit and get a $9 million payout, according to the terms presented to the bankruptcy judge.
Capellas is due to get $18 million in WorldCom stock if, as expected, the company exits Chapter 11, plus additional stock in future years.
WorldCom's filing called the package "eminently reasonable" and "well below" what two other candidates WorldCom considered for the CEO job would have required.
Rakoff questioned WorldCom's assertion to the bankruptcy judge that the court-appointed monitor, Richard Breeden, was likely to approve Capellas' compensation terms.
"This statement seems most puzzling, given that ... several material terms of the proposed compensation package have previously been rejected by the corporate monitor," the judge wrote.
"A compensation package so potentially problematic raises serious concerns as to whether proposed new management is as committed to reform as the nature of this case requires," Rakoff said.
The papers do not say what specific elements of the compensation rankle the monitor.
The telecommunications giant, based in Jackson, Miss., is trying to rebuild itself after former executives engineered a massive $9 billion accounting fraud, the largest in U.S. corporate history.
Rakoff approved a partial settlement of the Securities and Exchange Commission's case against WorldCom last month on the condition that a fine would be determined later and Capellas' compensation would be reviewed by the monitor and judge.
Rakoff's filing also contains a clear reminder to the company that the judge's fine, expected to be imposed in the spring, could potentially climb as high as $9 billion.
"WorldCom remains fully liable for such fine - potentially commensurate with the full size of the fraud - as the court may deem appropriate," Rakoff wrote.
WorldCom declined to comment on the judge's memorandum.
The judge ordered Breeden and WorldCom officials to have private conversations before the Dec. 16 hearing "to try to resolve what appears to be (the monitor's) very serious objections to the proposed compensation package."
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
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Offensichtlich gibt es seitens des Gerichts heftig Kritik bzgl. des Gehaltszettels
des CEO Capella. Am 16.Dezember muß Worldcom vor Gericht antanzen und dazu Rede und Antwort stehen.
Eure Meinung darüber? Wird dies den Aktienkurs kurzfristig nach unten drücken
(hat bereits gestern zum Kurssturz an der US-Börse geführt)? Ist das Gehalt angemessen oder schadet es eher dem Ansehen von Worldcom?
Gruß
KohlenUndReibach