Richard Lowe Wants His Retirement Dough

By Mark Evans | Published: September 28, 2009

Richard Lowe, president of Nortel’s wireless networks business, must be thinking about his life post-Nortel as he’s filed a creditor claim for $676,406.79 with a U.S. bankruptcy court.

In the claim filed last month with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, he’s asking for $671,745.55 to recover the non-qualified retirement benefit under the Employee Benefit Plan “Pension Service Plan”. Lowe also filed a claim of $4,661.24 to recover the employer contributions of the long term investment restoration plan.


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  • ioneca

    Did you expect any different.. (rhetorical Q)..!! Would be interesting to see the list of execs filing claims, and their claim amounts.

    Capitalism at it's best… performance be dammed… gimmie my money…

  • NortelTragedy

    Get in line, Dick. And it's a long one (the line).

  • bankrupt_bob

    <<Richard Lowe Wants His Retirement Dough>>

    …don't we all.

  • zeroman

    why not?

  • Friend007

    Well, I wish it were capitalistic. I would have much better chance to do well. Capitalism actually values contributions. One with the highest contribution gets paid the best. One with the lowest gets booted out. It's free competition and as simple as that. What we are seeing with Nortel is actually real left-wing socialism. People who got promoted were primarily based on their contacts, while the good people were shown the door! Capitalism isn't about sucking someone's money by force, but earning money by value. What's wrong with it? I think Richard Lowe won because of socialistic culture.

  • Musicvideos1

    No more task for Richard Lowe. best to get retire.
    Band Merchandise

  • ioneca

    Under the “dictionary” definition of Capitalism, I would agree. Under real world capitalism, it is common to see execs getting bonuses in failure scenarios, execs getting golden parachutes, sandbag exec targets, etc, etc… Socialism is about making sure everyone gets what they need… I guess if you bring Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs into the picture, you can, in some convoluted way, define Richard's claim as a “need” to keep him in the top of the triangle.

  • Friend007

    The moment the free competition is out, it's no longer capitalism. I see communism and capitalism as two ends of the pole and everything in between as socialism. Communism is a system where everything is Govt. owned and there aren't any individual rights, but only collective rights!. By definition capitalism is a system about individual rights and freedom, where these are valued to the point that Govt. is also an entity that can be sued for infringing them. People do business/deal with each other on their free will and the terms of contract they set for their business dealing. Government's role is simply to protect individual rights and freedom. Socialism is everything in between.

    What we are seeing with the quality of Nortel execs is the characteristic of the system that didn't value the right thing for a business – make money! Since it didn't do that, the execs that we got from “Director” and above levels weren't the ones that really helped make money! To make money, one needs to have people and management who contribute the best to come out with the best products. It wasn't that… then what was it exactly? People call it capitalism 'cos people somehow see capitalism as “money” and “money” as “evil”, but I can surely say that it's not capitalism.

    I agree with you on one of the characteristics of socialistic system being “need”. People get rewarded based on “need” rather than how much they contribute. So what happens is that people who contribute get frustrated and either move out or stop contributing! … and the non-contributors get rewarded. As time goes by, you are left with the system where suckers rule. As you know, suckers are good at one thing … sucking! and that's what you see with Nortel.

  • felixmk

    I know you are all worried about Dickie Lowe. He had a rough time over the last few years. He only got paid hundreds of thousands of dollars per year in salary and bonuses. He is universally beloved by his employees. He has a heart of gold and integrity like Nelson Mandela. I am sure we all want the best for him. Luckily, he already got a big payout from the deferred comp plan just before they declared bankruptcy, so he is fine. I know he had no inkling that bankruptcy was coming. I will be setting up a trust fund for him and am soliciting contributions.

  • ioneca

    And so, by your somewhat idealistic definition, everything is socialism because ideal capitalism cannot exist. I can accept that, but lets not get hung up on semantics… the proof is in the pudding… Enron, Worldcom, Auto Sector, Financial sector, Ponzi schemes… need I go on… you get the point…

  • Friend007

    Why do you call it capitalism?

  • happynortelex

    Get in line – Dick

  • gone2moro

    Tricky Dick… “I am not a criminal” Richard M. Nixon 1972…. how is it Nortel's tricky Dick was never implicated in the fiasco that was the accounting scandal of Frank Dumb. Brian McFadden and Sue Spradley were sure maligned in the press… but not Tricky Dick.. he got to keep his job and make great business descisions like selling off UMTS. What photos does Dicky have?…. Mikey Z kissing Borat?….

    Anyway… I'm hearing about lots of layoffs this week…. Richard, I never liked you and don't give a crap about your woes. But I hope you get to meet some of the folks you've screwed… and maybe like the ghost of Christmas past, they can take you to dark places you have been and show you what what a bunch of creeps you and the ELT at Nortel really were/are.

  • scalppeeler

    lol

  • less

    Come to think of it, I want to retire too. I'm too old, too tired and too fargin bland.

  • correne

    Hey Richard…get in line behind those of us who want retirement, benefits, sick (STD and LTD) benefits etc.

    Consider how much that wanker made over the years with his stock sell-offs, raises, executive compensation, etc. etc. He bled the company dry just like they all did. He gets nada, nothing, jip, etc etc…

    I actually think he should DONATE the money to the Ex Nortel employees..we can all buy a small coffee (not timmies, too expensive)

  • protosphere

    As the list of creditors grows faster and longer than Pinocchio's nose.

    With $2.4B in the bank when stalling creditors, overhead, and severances, etc., under bankruptcy, how could they be unaware of a $3B tax charge?

    Legal fees and new lawsuit insurance premiums get paid first too, as do bonuses of course as the remaining board members get raises.

    They still loot the corpse amid to garbage sale to the highest bidder. A carrot for maintaining value, carrots for cutting costs, carrots for financial innovation, carrots all around by the pigs at the trough as they evil grin employees and investors shamelessly after wiping out over 60K employees and $300B in shareholder value, with their proverbial bonuses or lies of past profit and worth.

    These ex-management creditor claims (like Owens' seeking $2,179,606 of pension payments) reflects the dollar volume they commanded in exorbitant pay practices.

    No wonder they claimed fraud profits, voted to keep fraud bonuses, refused to negotiate pay practices in largest fraud in Canada with OSC support, triple profits post fraud that were revised, and mark-to-market profits due to these revisions when in fact there were no profits for a company that listed its largest asset as a tax credit on books they sought to clean for so long.

    Is it surprising they join the ranks of growing creditors in this sad saga after so many failed aspirations, 3 to 5 year turn around or $20 buying opportunities not so long ago. Discredited, no credibility, liars to put it crassly… they always “didn't know” as an excuse when they certainly should have.

    Ex-Liberal finance minister amid ag-gate fraud, a board member post one of the largest fraud's in Canada, law firm defends Dunn of all things. Ironically trades losing options gamble for cash once again into the close.

    One of America's highest ranking military officials who admitted many were still there, hard to find as fraud trials loom on both sides of the border also submits a claim.

    A comedy of errors right down to looting the corpse to to looting its last remaining will and testament after Nortel is long gone in its wake of a Tsunami of unfathomable and untold damage. Why not claim, claim, claim, in anything that might possibly be left…

  • protosphere

    Social affiliation was more recently added to these hierarchy of needs.

    Holding close relationships one one hand while neglecting peons and others for their white collar crime syndrome . =)

    We live in within socialist capitalism, where good intent for all leads to less under communism in one extreme by an author who hated his mother (Marx) vs. one of anarchy amid legal tyranny since the robber baron days where money talks. =) I fear the later prevails in Canada with lax laws and open season on the investor or employees who lack these close relationships and needs to an established elite that reward each other. =)

  • LostPensioner

    Get in line with the pensioners who will certainly gt a lot less and probably have a lot more time in the company.

  • 4merEmployee22

    What about my RAP – Retirement Allowance Plan funds?
    Will I still be getting it??? Mine doesn't even come close to that amount
    Mr. Lowe is claiming!!! mere pocket change compared to them and I've
    worked longer that some of these guys!!!! Go Figure!!!

  • 4merEmployee22

    His claim is in US Dollars and mine is in Canadian Dollars! WTF!!!!!

  • 4merEmployee22

    I BET YOU THAT THE BANKRUPTCY COURT JUDGE IN THE USA MAY ALLOW
    HIS CLAIM!!!!
    LIFE IS REALLY NOT FAIR!!!

  • unknownPath

    I don't understand why they wouldn't allow his claim? This entire thread is a bit strange. Legally Nortel owes him money, it doesn't matter the role he holds at Nortel. Legally they owe him money and under the law emotions, like the above, luckily are not taken into consideration.

  • Friend007

    Unfortunately … all this is as expected after liquidation announcement. I see you expect better outcome, but you don't find it that way .. i.e. a contradiction. Check your assumptions, you will find something wrong there. It's time to learn and move on. It's only gonna hurt otherwise.

  • TongueInCheek

    There are over 86,000 claims filed in the US Court, many from employees/past employees since they have a September 30th deadline to file their claims. They'll all be part of Unsecured Creditors and may get 20 cents or so on the dollar depending on other actions and final cash available.

    This blog is well known as the place to bash Nortel, especially their executives so the emotional responses etc. should be expected.

  • gone2moro

    Not sure where tongueincheek gets his/her numbers from. I'm on the epiq website looking at total NT claims. As of today it's 11,590. Quite a bit up from the 2000 or so just a month ago…. but not 60,000. One of those 11,590 is mine.

    From time to time I get confusing notices from Epiq, the latest is a notice of a reallocation of my unsecured clain to “priority”. I called to ask what this was about, but they woudn't say anything except, if I was ok with that, then I didn't need to do anything.

    I asked someone I know who is familiar with these types of proceedings and he said, with a disclaimer that he may be wrong, that it appears about 10% of my claim was placed in “priority” to ensure that it would get paid ahead of the 90% unsecured claim, in a sense settling for 10cents on the dollar.

    And I've heard others have gotten similar notes with varying percentages of reclassification.

    The only take away I have is speculative at best and that is that Epiq and the secured creditors are getting ready for a settlement. But seeing is believing.

  • TongueInCheek

    Simple, there are 8655 pages of claims just as you stated, with 10 claims/schedules listed per page. Would you agree that 8655 * 10 is greater than 86,000 claims?

  • gone2moro

    Ha ha ha.. Sue Spradley even has a claim in for $67,011.67.

    She couldn't get NSN to put in the winning bid for NT Wireless business… might as well sue… pun intended…

  • gone2moro

    Thanks for the clarification.. but now i'm really bummed out…… 1 in 8500 is better than 1 in 86,000… i liked my number better.

    But it's fun looking up some of the names from the past to see what they have laid claim to……..so sad.

  • yes4aapl

    This blog is well known as the place to bash Nortel, especially their executives so the emotional responses etc. should be expected.
    ====
    re
    and you are well know liar_pumper and forever optimistic about Nortel and NT stock.
    look what Desk Jockey wrote about you
    …
    These trolls/pumpers/cheerleaders have used all manner of tactics in attempt to deceive others into buying NT and covering up the truth. These have ranged from hateful rants laced with overt racism/homophobia, to childish name calling/profanity and even threats of physical violence against those that disagreed with them. Furthermore, they have even accused AAN/Mark Evans of being culpable of stock price manipulation, something they themselves ought to held accountable for! Others, not wanting to display overt hatred, “merely” offered their tacit support for those trying to destroy AAN.
    …
    http://nortelinsider.wordpress.com/2008/12/11/a…

  • felixmk

    I would like to report that my appeal for contributions for Richard has resulted in me collecting 3 pennies, an “I Believe” paperweight, 4 WIMAX prototypes, and a Shamwow. Does anyone know Richard's address so I can send this to him?

  • 4merEmployee22

    Legally NORTEL NETWORKS owes me retirement dough, TOO!!!
    BUT NOT $676,406.79 US Dollars!!!!

  • unknownPath

    I am not saying you are not owed money, I am saying that they owe you X and they owe this guy $676,406.79, there is no reason to be upset about this figure since he has every right to claim money owed to him.
    If he got his full $676K and you got nothing is a different story.

  • less

    Thats what some of us former NT people now earn over 2 years.

  • SeniorDating

    $67,011.67 is he mad ?

  • http://www.over40dating.co.uk/ Senior Dating

    $67,011.67 is he mad ?

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