Porsche CEO defends $100 million salary

rybo submitted on 11/29/2007 Official AutoSpies Timestamp: 6:50 PM
from: www.motorauthority.com

[33] user comments | category: Misc News

Tags: Porsche

Porsche

Being the CEO of a major car manufacturer is not traditionally considered a job that will net you paychecks on par with Formula 1 drivers. For Porsce CEO Wendelin Wiedeking, however, his salary for last year would cover at least four times Ralf Schumacher’s pay when he was at Toyota. Wiedeking defended his estimated €60 million-€70 million ($89 million -$103 million) salary by pointing to increased corporate profits and bonuses for workers and shareholders.

In his defense, pre-tax profits for Porsche did rise nearly €4 billion from €2.1 billion to €5.9 billion over the past year. Read Article

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ThierryHenry14 - 11/30/2007 9:09:50 AM

+2 Boost

Its well deserved. He engineered recent success for the company.

And with the way the company is going, he should continue to get that...

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DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 10:02:26 AM

-1 Boost

i wonder what ppl including all of you on here will say when the inevitibilty of a cyclical downturn emerges, will you call for a cut in his pay or will you just give him a $160 million golden parachute like o'neal was given at merrill lynch showing the world that it's possible to get rich from failure...

kuripr - 11/30/2007 9:22:21 AM

+4 Boost

As long as the shareholders have no complaints then it is OK. Still a lot of money, but that is capitalism!

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DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 10:06:51 AM

-2 Boost

your idealism is cute, but in reality shareholders voices rarely get heard, do you really think shareholders at merrill lynch would have approved a $160 million payout for failure if they were allowed to vote on it...

Need4Speed - 11/30/2007 5:16:29 PM

+1 Boost

If shareholders were upset and wanted to make a difference then all they have to do is dump the stock! If Porsche is making shareholders pockets feel full then no one is going to complain if the CEO stuffs his pocket as well.

SixxFive - 11/30/2007 9:30:54 AM

+1 Boost

Being that Wiedeking has taken Porsche from the verge of extinction to now being the most profitable car maker in the world, I think his salary is appropriate.

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DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 10:04:12 AM

-2 Boost

from someone who counts the number 6 before 5, i think your math might be off...

DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 7:16:05 PM

0 Boost

hey sixxfive, i apologize for my immature comment, there's another guy running around town who looks like me doing evil...

kuripr - 11/30/2007 11:00:40 AM

+3 Boost

DiamondJim

Comparing Porsche and Merrill Lynch is not a fair comarison. Porsche shareholder value has increased while Merrill's went by the wayside of sub-prime lending crisis.

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DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 11:25:38 AM

-2 Boost

you forget or perhaps you aren't aware that the board of directors, more specifically, compensation committee of merrill lynch comprises old chums of o'neal ie. golfing buddies, old collegues etc. no doubt the porsche board was constructed in the same fashion, hence the huge payout...

kuripr - 11/30/2007 11:02:41 AM

+1 Boost

I meant comparison.

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DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 11:45:03 AM

+1 Boost

here's a comparison for you gathered from Google:

On 27 August 2003, it was revealed that Grasso, head of the New York Stock Exchange had been given a deferred compensation pay package worth almost $140 million. This caused immediate controversy, as the HAND-PICKED compensation committee consisted mainly of representatives from NYSE-listed companies over which Grasso had regulatory authority as head of the Exchange.

On 24 May 2004, Grasso was sued by New York state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, demanding repayment of the majority of a nearly $140 million pay package. Prior to being dismissed, Grasso had been in line to receive an additional $48 million over the 139.5 million he had already received; he was not paid the additional funds.

On October 19, 2006 the judge ruled that Richard Grasso has to return much of the big pay package he got when he was the chair of the New York Stock Exchange. Grasso was criticized for not explaining details of his pay package to his board.

this is DJ speaking:
BTW, Grasso also brought the NYSE from the verge of extinction because of technology to now being the most profitable stock exchange in the world during his reign. do you think his salary is still appropriate?

ThierryHenry14 - 11/30/2007 11:51:43 AM

+2 Boost

What the hell does any of this talk about Merrill Lynch and NYSE have anything to do with Porsche? I could name 10 other company heads that gets the same amount, and are not in turmoil.

Bottom line, just take this article for what its worth. Its about Porsche and Wiedeking. Does he deserve it? Perhaps Yes, because of his contributions.

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kuripr - 11/30/2007 3:46:14 PM

+1 Boost

ditto!!

DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 12:02:05 PM

+1 Boost

you're right this is getting boring, i, just like any of you would take $100 million dollars, if it were offered to you for doing whatever good job you did even if it is out of wack... ciao!

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SevorbeupstryIsBack - 11/30/2007 12:06:35 PM

+1 Boost

NICE!

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DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 12:22:38 PM

+1 Boost

I'M GLAD U LIKE IT!

ThierryHenry14 - 11/30/2007 12:43:58 PM

+1 Boost

I probably contributed a small portion of the 100M with my purchases...

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ThierryHenry14 - 11/30/2007 3:04:34 PM

+1 Boost

all my little 1/18 917K and GT3s add up. haha.

0to60 - 11/30/2007 1:23:42 PM

+1 Boost

Whats with this DiamondJim guy. Did you have stock in that company or something. I have coworkers still cussing about lucent technology. It happens buddy. The subprime market has a bad impact on all financial services companies. Beazer's CEO is still CEO. Now thats what is really crazy. Merrill Lynch just fell due to companies like Beazer. Merrill Lynch along with Chase bank. and Citi bank, and bank of america, and wachovia etc...

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0to60 - 11/30/2007 1:24:54 PM

-1 Boost

my 401k isnt looking as good as it was before either. Now, lets get back to the point... Porsche's overpaid CEO :-)

DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 7:14:23 PM

+3 Boost

i woke up on the wrong side of bed this morning :-) and felt like sparring verbally... that's what drives site traffic on here and any other blog or forum anyway.

i'm over it now, he can make whatever he wants to make we all get out of life what we want anyway... ciao!

lenkun - 11/30/2007 1:36:54 PM

+2 Boost

Now we all know why Porsches are so overpriced, because all the money went to fund some executive's lifestyle.

Why can't they work for the company's success with the spirit and attitude of achieving goals instead of money and greed.

Porsche needs to take a lesson from Apple Inc. where they pay their CEO only $1. Steve Jobs earn $1 because he's not overwhelmed with greed. He works for passion and committment for success for the company. Now, that's the spirit of a CEO.

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gsh23 - 11/30/2007 2:11:15 PM

+1 Boost

rofl, ok there apple fanboy. you just happened to choose the #1 compensated tech CEO in the industry. steve job's 6 year average compensation is about $122 million. in the past 5 years he has collected over $650 million. $1 my ass hahahah

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/12/lead_07ceos_Steven-P-Jobs_HEDB.html

ThierryHenry14 - 11/30/2007 3:03:51 PM

+2 Boost

"Why can't they work for the company's success with the spirit and attitude of achieving goals instead of money and greed."

A 4 Billion Euro profit increase is not acheiving goals/company success? I think he deserves it. Porsche is on the rise in product line/models faster than most companies. Why shouldn't Wiedeking take credit for his/the company's success?

DiamondJim - 11/30/2007 7:23:17 PM

0 Boost

here here lenkun

Loki123 - 11/30/2007 4:17:06 PM

0 Boost

I think Dr. h.c. Ferdinand Porsche would roll over is his grave if he found out Wendelin was making this kind of money.

To respond to the quote 2 above - actually Steve Jobs isn't the #1 compensated tech guy - he's only worth 5.7Billion - try Google's founders...each weighing in at a handsome $18.5 Billion

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ThierryHenry14 - 11/30/2007 4:23:45 PM

+1 Boost

I think that he was talking about compensation, not net worth.

rocker - 11/30/2007 4:45:41 PM

0 Boost

Grasso should have benn able to keep his money, Spitzer was looking to make a name and he did he is now Governor of NY. Spitzer is the bad guy here not Grasso, he worked hard for his money. Same for Wiedeking but if you get rewarded for exceptional performance you also take the blame if your company falters that is where the real disconnect is. Wiedeking increased profits by $4B and he recieved a 2.5% bonus seems fair but if Porsche loses money that his bonus should be cut.

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Larry - 11/30/2007 5:46:44 PM

+1 Boost

greedy

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M1k3 - 11/30/2007 9:35:45 PM

-1 Boost

Alright,

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BMW995 - 12/3/2007 11:59:19 AM

+1 Boost

What's interesting to me is that German companies typically don't pay their CEOs the kind of compensation the U.S. companies do. His pay is really unusual for Europe.

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