Warner’s Bonuses
By now, everyone knows I got canned by Elektra last year during the Elektra-Atlantic merger. I was crushed at the time, but in light of my new gig, it really doesn’t bother me as much now. The following, however, still bugs me.
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(from hitsdailydouble.com)
A new Warner Music Group SEC filing reveals that the privately-held music major paid its top executives hefty bonuses last year that brought total compensation to over $21 million, or roughly three times WMG’s operating income of $7 million for the 10 months ending Sept. 30. WMG Chairman/CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. received $1 million in salary and $5.25 million in bonuses; U.S. chief Lyor Cohen received $1m in salary and $5.24m in bonuses; International head Paul-Rene Albertini received $1.25m in salary and $3.15m in bonuses; and outgoing Warner/Chappell Chairman/ CEO Les Bider  received total payments of $2.44m. The bonuses were reportedly tied to WMG’s financial performance—the group’s recent $7 million in black ink reversed a loss of $197 million a year earlier—as well as to the early completion of restructuring plans, such as the merging of Atlantic and Elektra, which so far have claimed around 1,600 jobs. According to reports, WMG is still planning an IPO for the first half of this year that will value the business at $5 billion.
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These guys paid top level bonuses worth more than three times the operating income during the 10 months they were employed? And they canned approximately 1,600 employees during this same period?
