Top Watson Wyatt executives got generous bonuses for fiscal year 2008, with CEO John Haley getting $1.3 million, which was 148.6 percent of the target bonus.
Haley also recommended annual bonuses ranging from 112.3 percent to 154.2 percent of the target bonus for the other named executives, according to an SEC filing.
Haley’s bonus depended on 11 principal factors, including how well the company met its financial goals for the year.
For fiscal year 2008, the plan was that revenues would increase by 9.3 percent to $1.6 billion and that earnings would increase by 8.9 percent to $2.90 per share. The actual results: revenues of $1.760 billion and earnings of $3.50 per share.
It will be interesting to see what the company’s executives are paid this year.
The sector faces challenges as clients continue to cut discretionary spending. And so far this year, its shares are down roughly 23 percent, falling more than 10 percent since its deal to buy Towers Perrin on Sunday.
Executive compensation is drawing intense scrutiny, with activist shareholders urging the government to get more involved in overseeing multimillion-dollar pay packages received by a growing number of American chief executives.
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3 comments so far
Here we go again. These people are nowhere near that important to the company to justify that kind of income, regardless of what they might think. CEO-ing is not rocket science, especially when they simply work enough to pile up a big bank account, then apologize for running the company into the ground right before they retire. A trained monkey could do that. It’s a wonderful country.
- Posted by Frankwatson wyatt is not buying towers perrin, it is a merger of equals.
- Posted by adamTowers Perrin partners have always wanted to go public to maximize their value in the company. However, they did not have the profitability to do so on their own. So, by combining with WW, it allows the partners to eventually exit with a pocket of cash. When the people leave, so does the value of a consulting group. I think it was a bad deal for WW!
- Posted by Perry