Thursday, November 20, 2008

Bank got Bailout, CEO got balloon package.

The South Financial Group, South Carolina's largest bank, announced earlier this week that it had been approved to receive $347 million from the U.S. government. But the bank's founder and longtime CEO Mack Whittle won't be sticking around. He retired with an $18 million severance package in late October, two months earlier than had been expected. Because of the timing, he's free from golden parachute limits (PDF) that come with accepting bailout money.

"It smells like he moved the retirement date up to avoid [those limits]," said Paul Hodgson of the Corporate Library, a corporate-governance research firm. And the government's millions "make it a lot easier for the company to pay it out."
Read on.

1 comment:

airJackie said...

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