NEWS: AT&T Wireless execs take $13.5M golden parachute
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According to a report in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, AT&T Wireless gave
its top-level executives a lucrative stock grant, while the company's
workers and middle managers are stuck with nearly worthless options and the
prospect of huge job cuts. Last month -- one week before the company put
itself up for auction -- AT&T Wireless' board of directors gave each of the
carrier's 12 officers stock shares worth a total of $13.5 million. This
grant was given despite the fact that AT&T Wireless as a company
underperformed for much of the last two years. The stock offerings ranged
from 43,695 shares -- given to each of four executives, worth more than
$655,000 -- to 187,266 shares given to CEO John Zeglis, worth $2.8 million.
Despite the price of Cingular's offer, most AT&T Wireless employees have
stock options that are pegged to a much higher price. AT&T Wireless' stock
debuted four years ago at $35.32 per share, with most employee options
pegged in that price range. In contrast, prior to Cingular's bid AT&T
Wireless stock was trading around $8 per share. Many insiders expect
Cingular to cut as many as 30,000 jobs at AT&T Wireless once the deal is
closed.
For more on AT&T Wireless' company drama:
- read this article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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