HOW TO BECOME A TOTAL FAILURE

This morning I learned the results of Prudential Financial’s stockholder meeting. The stockholders did not accept the board’s recommendation to let the executives decide their own compensation without stockholder supervision. The Say on Pay resolution passed with 61.5% of the vote. Much of the praise belongs to Executive Wealth an organization that is working diligently to give stockholders a voice, and slam the lid on executive raiding of company coffers. The very executives responsible for making Prudential profitable took lavish rewards while at the same time losing $1.1 Billion dollars last year!How can that be justified (Rules #3, #4 & #5)?  Are we so stupid that we would let this continue? God, I hope not. The term Robber Barron’s is just too polite.

Say on Pay resolutions call for a nonbinding advisory vote for shareholders to express their approval or disapproval of how a company pays its top executives.  Non-binding as it is, I can’t help but believe that there will be increased transparency (don’t you love the new use of this word?) with stockholders getting more involved. Responsible Wealth a project of United for a Fair Economy, is a national network of businesspeople, investors and affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic inequality and using their influence to advocate for widespread prosperity. Please go to their website UFE to learn about their mission it is a cause we all should get behind if we want to restore the American economy.

They’ve submitted over one-hundred Say on Pay resolutions to corporations around the country. I’m not sure what they have to gain from this, but bless their pro-active hearts. Their next battles are with Target, Yahoo!, and FedEx. United for a Fair Economy is working very hard to correct this situation and I think all of us who have been affected by the recession caused by bad management, bad loans, and wasted compensations should join with them and do what we can to turn it around, don’t you?

Written by Bill Ruesch blog author of Talking Through My Hat, A Print Broker’s Ruminations www.billprintbroker.com