Saturday, May 16, 2015

Even the Boss needs important friends


As the New York Times presents its annual review of the greediest CEO's walking among us, there is the revelation that one key factor is your business relationship with cable mogul John Malone.
It pays to work for John C. Malone.

The billionaire who built a cable and communications empire is 74, and no longer a chief executive himself. But Mr. Malone still exerts sway from various boardrooms, and the C.E.O.s at the companies he oversees are routinely among the best compensated managers on the planet. Last year, the largess was particularly notable.

Take Discovery Communications, the cable group behind Shark Week and shows like “Cake Boss.” Mr. Malone spun Discovery out of his media group and still sits on the board. His choice for chief executive, David M. Zaslav, received total compensation worth $156 million last year, making him the highest-paid chief of an American public company, according to the Equilar 200 Highest-Paid CEO Rankings, conducted for The New York Times.

Just behind Mr. Zaslav on the list of the highest-paid chief executives is Michael T. Fries of Liberty Global, an international cable and wireless group that Mr. Malone presides over as chairman. And while Mr. Fries made considerably less than Mr. Zaslav — $44 million less — he still got a package worth $112 million.

Gregory B. Maffei, one of Mr. Malone’s closest lieutenants, was paid twice in 2014. As chief of Liberty Media, which owns the Atlanta Braves baseball team and a big stake in the satellite radio provider SiriusXM, Mr. Maffei received compensation of $41.3 million. As chief of Liberty Interactive, a related company that owns stakes in home shopping networks, he received $32.4 million. Mr. Malone, the chairman of both companies, awarded his friend a total of $74 million last year, placing him sixth on the list.

Thomas M. Rutledge, another Malone confidant who oversees the regional cable operator Charter Communications, where Mr. Malone and Mr. Maffei are board members, was given a $16 million package last year, an increase of 259 percent over 2013. Though Mr. Malone is not on the compensation committee that sets executive pay, Mr. Maffei is.

Taken together, the four C.E.O.s were awarded more than $350 million last year, occupying three of the top six spots of the study conducted by Equilar, an executive compensation data firm.
Daddy Cablebucks is good to his minions. The review also provides data on all the most overpaid CEO's. Even a slavishly positive look at their companies can not justify the gross overpayment most of these people have had their boards give them.

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