As Journal Communications stock plummeted in value and Journal Communications employees lost their jobs, CEO Steve Smith did the real corporate thing: he grabbed the money and screwed his stockholders.
Reported the paper in March:
Total compensation increased almost 22% last year for Journal Communications Inc. chairman and chief executive Steven J. Smith, according to a regulatory filing by the company Thursday.
Smith earned no bonus, but his salary rose 3.7% to $798,077. He received stock awards worth $1,672 and option awards valued at $397,003, a proxy statement for the Milwaukee-based media company and publisher of the Journal Sentinel said. The biggest change in compensation was in the value of Smith’s retirement benefits, which grew to $233,110, compared with $74,782 in 2007. He received other compensation last year worth $16,095.
Journal Communications posted a $224.4 million loss in 2008.
And then, this morning, we are treated to this:
Citing “the challenging economic environment,” the board of Journal Communications Inc. said Thursday it will suspend the dividend on Class A and Class B shares of its stock.
Quarterly dividends on the shares had been cut to 2 cents from 8 cents in February.
“While we regret having to make this difficult decision, we believe this is the prudent choice in order to maintain financial flexibility,” said Steven J. Smith, chairman of Journal Communications. “Given the continued challenging economy and business conditions, we believe that this will allow the company to continue to direct a significant portion of its cash flow to debt reduction.”
What a damned joke.
Didn’t the newspaper also ask its news staff to take a pay cut or time off, while SS was getting his big raise?
What a bastard! I hate that guy, and the board that continues to employ him. He “regrets having to make this difficult decision…” Sure he does. He regrets nothing, and laments only that he can’t squeeze more out of the employees who just took a big pay cut. If anyone could incite me to real violence …..
Yes, indeed, staff members took a pay cut in exchange for 10 “personal days.” In other words, they are being furloughed with a PR spin.
I can’t help myself, G.
I thought ALL employees took a pay cut, from Smith through Brenner on down. If that’s the case, the timing on Smith’s raise is suspect. Did he accept a 3.7% raise in February, then ask for a 6% cut from employees in April, effectively making his pay cut a puny 2.3%?
His annual salary alone equals the cuts he demanded from the newsroom, and his raise alone is more than most employees make all year. What does a newspaper need more – reporters in the field, or a lousy CEO who oversees the demise of the business?
Former seminarian Smith and his lickspittles on the board have proven that they are on the same moral plane as executives at any other company that devalues employees, lays them off, decimates the product, and then convince themselves they deserve to reap fat salaries and perks.
One can only hope that his golden parachute fails to open.
It’s not just a “Damn Joke” or “to bad” or even “Pathetic”; it’s the kind of stuff that revolutions are made of. If the top 1% continues to accelerate away from the rest of Americans there will be reprecussions.