Mike Z.’s Sweet Compensation Package

So Mike Z. gets a $1.2-million annual salary just for showing up. Then, he’s eligible for a bonus worth $1.8-million to $3.6-million if certain performance benchmark are reached. Then, there’s the five million stock options and 2.25 restricted stock options he received last year, which are currently worth nearly $18-million. And if Mike Z. sticks around for five years, he gets a $500,000 a year pension after he turns 60. If that’s doesn’t come across as sweet, Nortel also disclosed it will pay ex-chief legal officer Nick De Roma, who quit last year, a monthly salary of $43,833 until Sept. 2007 as well as giving him 100% annual salary payment as an “incentive award”. And you thought, you were in the wrong line of work! It’s nice to see Nortel has enough money to be throwing around cash – and that doesn’t include the $500M+ it will pay to make those pesky class-action lawsuits go away. For more details on the what’s what, here’s the SEC document

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  • Baffled Employee

    And have you asked what the employee’s get? Another year of nothing !!

  • Baffled Employee

    Oh yeah, you forgot to mention the $11.5 million dollar penalty Nortel paid to Motorola!!

  • Kevin

    Think of Mike Z. as a solution that has its price. When he does turn Nortel around (just a matter of time), I am confident that he will not forget what is at the crux of his platform’s success; his team, the employees of Nortel. Give him a chance before you scream foul play on his pay and incentive package. I know I am.
    Sincerely yours,
    An investor of believes in Nortel’s employees.

  • USAtalks

    MikeZ’s salary and the $11.5M the BOD paid Motorola will be worth it if:

    1) Mike turns Nortel around
    2) mgmt doesn’t strip employee pension plans and health benefits for the sake of their bonuses
    3) employees get a decent raise and a lump sum bonus in 2006 and beyond
    4) mgmt simplifies both internal and external processes so employees do value added work not just justify other’s positions by a steam of repetitive, valueless paperwork.

    If Mike Z can’t accomplish these things then blame the BODs who knew the price tag going into the deal….not Mike Z.

  • Anonymous

    To the point made by USAtalks:
    2) mgmg doesn’t strip employee pension plans
    It happened:
    http://nortel.wordpress.com/2006/06/27/nortel-cutting-1100-jobs/

    And just think, the money they save each year by taking away the pension plan equals the ‘firing or quiting’ bonus that the last few exec’s have received.

  • BOB

    I have not seen a increase in pay for more than 10 years, my health care cost has increased by 250% I’m filling for bankruptcy, I am being told I make to much money, yet they could get a pay increase amounting to more than I could make in a life time. There’s something wrong with that. If mike cannot see what is happening then it is being done on purpose.

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