CEO Efforts to Ensure His Pay Worked: Will Others Follow Suit?
Near the end of March, I posted an article, Alarm Bells at Waddell & Reed. As I noted, shareowners of Waddell & Reed Financial Inc. would soon receive a troubling letter from CEO Henry Herrmann in advance of the company’s April 7 annual meeting claiming that giving shareowners an advisory vote on his compensation could put the company “at a serious competitive disadvantage and could erode the value of your investment.”
It looks like the letters to shareowners and employees worked, the “say on pay” proposal failed with a vote of 32,003,590 in favor and 43,681,524 opposed. William L. Rogers, who sat on the compensation committee, was reelected by a vote of 45,445,984 in favor and 32,259,727 withheld, with 3,225,602 non-votes. (see Form 8-K filing) Will other CEOs now campaign, using corporate funds, to ensure noninterference with their pay packages?
