Newspapers were filled with information about Dr. McKinnell's $82 million pension package this spring.
Shareholders were upset that Dr. McKinnell would receive this amount considering that Pfizer's stock had lost 37% of its value during Dr. McKinnell's tenure.
Dr. McKinnell claimed that this wasn't his fault. He said that the stock had been overvalued when he took over. He didn't say that shareholders had been stupid, but in essence that is the conclusion.
Dr. McKinnell, however, has been anything but stupid. On December 18, 2006, Pfizer entered into an agreement with Dr. McKinnell which details the terms of his departure from Pfizer.
What Dr. McKinnell and Pfizer kept as their own little secret is that the $82 million retirement package wasn't all this CEO had coming his way. Dr. McKinnell got canned from his CEO job in July 2006, almost two years before he was scheduled to step down, under pressure from investors angered about his retirement package and lack of performance. Dr. McKinnell then "decided" to retire from his chairman job a few months early, on December 18, 2006, so Pfizer has now been forced to file an 8-K statement.
Turns out Dr. McKinnell had a few more dollars stashed away: $78 million in deferred pay to be exact, and $38 million in stock and severance payments.
So congratulations are appropriate. Not every CEO can set investors straight; cut the share price in half, and take off with $198 million in his knapsack. That takes a certain kind of talent.
According to the separation agreement, Dr. McKinnell agrees to "provide reasonable assistance to and cooperate with the Company and its counsel in regard to any litigation presently pending or subsequently initiated involving matters of which Executive has particular knowledge as a result of Executive’s employment with the Company. Such assistance and cooperation shall consist of Executive making himself available at reasonable times for consultation with officers of the Company and its counsel and for depositions or other similar activity should the occasion arise."
That's good news for the many law firms that may be lining up to take Dr. McKinnell's deposition. After all, he might now have few excuses not to attend.
8 comments:
Bush as president (the first MBA president no less).
Sooooo many CEOs who run their companies in the ground and get rewarded for it...with a king's ransom no less.
The bar has been set too low for the last 25 years.
Methinks a class action suit by shareholders against the former CEO and the Board of Directors might solve some of this.
Holy sh-t.
Re visit Doc's Revolution or not. I personally am convinced you in USA need some kind of revolution, velvet or othervise.
The new elite, the deciders, the evildoers, are doing to you far worse than English ever did and you rose in revolution to get rid of that menace, just to have these neo-elitests and neo-aristocracy ride you once more but much harder. The thing is that now you have multiple kings that do their thing at will. This example is just one of many that you see in your press and TV on daily basis. Something is rotten in the state of the brave. Will they rise?
Poor Hank. How WILL he survive on a lousy $198 million? It's tough at the top.
You know what, Hank and his cohorts, as they say in the biz, are not actually to blame, in a bizzare way. The so called superstar, celebrity CEOs were created by the big business, media and those who negotiate their compensations, the consultants of those special agancies.
Once this was done, those who are "placing" a CEO do their negotiation and selling of him/her ( yes her too, remeber the one from HP) in such a way that those who want them are so "sold" that they think no one in the world could do as good as job as this "business rock star". So in the end the deals are made that not only give them enormous $$ during their regime but even more when they leave or are kicked out for what ever reason.
In reality, for every such so called celebrity CEO there are thousands well educated and experienced business people who could do as good and most often better job that the clown they "bought". But USA style of everything is not the reality it is the perception, brain washing at all and every level.
Further, in Big pharma biz due to nature of the product that is vital for survival of all, the selling of those products is somewhat more difficult than selling candy to the kids. And that little bit of difficulty is why they need such "smart" celebrity CEOs and pay them those unreal $$$. Doc Peter is right, he could run a major pharma co. so could I and thousands of others with some biz experience and common sense. Very rarely, the budgets are not met in this business, usually when they are so out of touch with reality that no one could even come close. If they are only "impossible" to reach, they will be always.
So when boards of directors agree to pay this kind of money to some clown like this failed doctor, they are either complete idiots or just plain brain washed as everyone else. The star CEOs and their agents just love it.
By the way, has everyone seen the data that showed that high percentage of CEO's are certifiable psychopaths. No woder they do thing that they do. What is worse the rest of us are just watching, complaining and doing nothing to stop the madness.
Marry Christmas.
Anyone who read Dr. McKinnell's book or even just Dr. Rost's review, can clearly see and conclude that Hank is as close as one can get to psychopath. The way he discusses the issues and the way he offers solutions only a diagnosed/confirmed psychopaths can do. Just imagine his solutions to be inforced in this day and age. We may as well bring back the stone age and prevent him to spend all of that 198mill. and lot more he accumulated over the years he "practiced" in the pharma industry. One does not know who is worse in this business, the "regular" clowns or the "doctors" who decided that healing people is just too boring and unprofitable. Look at that one at Novartis, Dr. Dan (something). Just go into pharma gossip and type Novartis. Be ready for more nasty stories. It never ends with these "people". Only us the people can put an end to IT.
But guys.... Hank got $198 million to leave and I got a swift kick in the a** to leave..... poor guy has it rough!!
Merry Christmas to all the other Pfizer flunkees!!!
Peter Rost, M.D., a former Pfizer VP marketing, is an expert witness and marketing consultant. According to Fortune "Peter Rost has become the drug industry's most annoying - and effective - online scourge."
For more information:
Expert Witness: Drug Industry
Pharmaceutical Expert
Drug Expert Witness
Speaker Ethics
Speaker Healthcare
Speaker Drug Industry
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