This is exactly the kind of thinking more people in charge should be displaying at this time in our country.  Contrary to the current trend by executives to take as much as they can get, Citizens Republic Bancorp vice president John D. Schwab was fired after he opposed a $7.5 million bonus for the chief executive, William R. Hartman.  Hartman tied the bonus to a proposed new four year contract.  But Schwab argues that Hartman sought the bonus payment in anticipation of the bank getting its own $300 million federal bailout. 

Schwab charges he was fired for opposing the bonus and is now suing the bank.  A bank spokesman says exactly what we expect him to say. The bank has the right and authority blah, blah, blah.  Legally they probably do, but what about ethically and morally? Kudos to Schwab for challenging his really bad boss.  

Source 

Kim Zolciak and her staff of two

If you followed the Real Housewives of Atlanta you know who Kim Zolciak is.  For those who just got cable like me, Kim was the blond who didn’t have a house and wasn’t a wife but dove to stardom on the reality show that chronicled the lives of five of the most self important women on the planet.  While there’s a lot of really bad bossness to work with on that show, Kim gets special mention today for her charity work…or lack of it. 

Its seems Kim recently founded a charity called Shoes for Shattered Hearts.  Her first major fund raising event was last Saturday but Kim was a no show.  When questioned about Kim’s absence, her business partner, Cori Davenport, said Kim had “gone out of town for some mental R&R” because being maintained by a sugar daddy is really hard. 

When Kim’s PR people were questioned they said “who’s Kim Kolciak?”  Ok, no, not really.  But reality TV show “stars” aren’t taken too seriously after their 15 minutes of fame is up and skipping out on your own charity’s event is a sure fire way to lose the little bit of credibility you may have had.

The waxy sheen on their face is happiness

Excess and greed  must be the theme for the day.  This story adds to the argument that the super wealthy are living in a completely different world.  36 year old Swedish countess Marie Douglas-Davis is in the middle of a divorce from her husband of 6 years, 66 year old George David, former CEO of United Technologies Corporation.  Instead of managing volunteer functions, helping Count Dracula keep count on Sesame Street, or whatever it is that countesses are supposed to do, Douglas-David is challenging the post-nuptial agreement she signed that would have given her $43 million and is instead insisting she needs $100 million to pay her bills.  Whats the price of countess upkeep these days?  Countess Marie spends a reported $53,000 a week  on expenses.   Get a breakdown of some of these expenses after the jump.  Read the rest of this entry »

Fred Goodwin laughing all the way to the bank

We don’t know much about this guy here in the USA but his behavior sure sounds familiar.  Fred Goodwin, former Chief Executive of RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland), has received widespread criticism since it was revealed that he’d be receiving a £16m pension. That’s about $23.3 million stateside.  Much like the disgraced bank execs in the U.S., Goodwin was forced to step down in October 2008 when RBS became nationalized after taking on bad debt and realizing a £24bn loss.  Of course, Goodwin argues that he’s earned his pension and that according to his contract, he’s doing nothing wrong by accepting it. To add insult to injury a recent whistleblower account of corporate waste at RBS revealed, among other things, that Goodwin’s office received a makeover using £1,000 a roll wallpaper and that company execs ran up chauffeur bills in excess of £100,000 a month.

Do the super wealthy really see things that differently than the rest of us?  Corporate greed is certainly not an American phenomenon. We all know that it is in fact, very, unfortunately universal.  But aren’t moderation and self restraint also universal? How about common sense?  Or is it too much to ask when money and power are involved? I always read these stories with that “one eyebrow cocked” look on my face because for the life of me I don’t get how they don’t get why most of the world finds this kind of behavior unforgivable.  The more I read stories like these, the angrier and more disgusted I become. 

A little over a year ago, Elliot Spitzer was forced out of office after his frequenting of high priced prostitutes became public.  Adulterous affairs by very influential and powerful men have become almost commonplace in today’s world.  But what made Spitzer’s indiscretion so news-worthy was the fact that he railed against the very kind of illegal activity he was engaging in.

Over the years I’ve become cynical enough not to be surprised when these stories break.   Back in 1988 when Jimmy Swaggart’s secret life was made public, it came as a shock to much of the country.   Not only because he was a religious man, admired and revered by many, but because Swaggart  frequently preached sermons condemning the very behavior he engaged in.  When someone in charge publicly chastises behavior while privately indulging in that very behavior, it deserves special mention.   That takes a particular kind of arrogance and it begs the question of whether or not these men can and should be trusted in positions of leadership.  Its even worse, when after being accused, these leaders choose to lie about their involvement.  Former president Clinton did it and more recently former Detroit Mayor Kwame- I should have deleted the text messages - Kilpatrick, presidential candidate John Edwards and Pastor Ted Haggard. Read the rest of this entry »

FEMA, the agency that famously mismanaged Katrina under Michael Brown, is apparently (no surprise to the rest of us) plagued with management problems. 

FEMA’s interim director, Nancy Ward, was due back in the agency’s New Orleans office last Thursday to continue reviewing the allegations.   Employees  say the way the office is being managed is a disaster.  Ward’s visits began after a CBS Evening News report claimed that there were 30 complaints, in February alone, against Transitional Recovery Office chief of staff, Douglas Whitmer.  While the allegations are under investigation, Whitmer is on temporary assignment in Texas. To help assess the situation, FEMA created an on-line survey that can be completed confidentially by the New Orleans staff.  The larger story here is how the mismanagement is impacting the post-Katrina rebuilding efforts.  Nearly $4 billion of the $6 billion FEMA designated to rebuild after Katrina is still unspent, due in large part, many say, to the mismanagement in the New Orleans office.

Serious management issues are definitely not news to government workers.  Government agencies are notoriously plagued by bad management and low morale.  It would be great if these confidential surveys could be implemented throughout several government agencies and if when the results were released, real changes in management would actually take place.

Karpman and family in happier times

Good morning America did a story today about a former CEO and institutional equity sales trader who now works as a pizza delivery guy making $7.29 an hour.  45 year old Ken Karpman, his wife and their two children are living in their 4,000 square foot home in Tampa, Florida, but the home has recently been foreclosed and they will be forced to leave.  At the peak of his career Karpman made over $750,000 a year.  After starting a business that failed and burning through his savings and 401k, Karpman said  he had to go to work wherever he could find a job.

A good Samaritan has taken over paying the kids’ private school tuition that runs the couple about $30,000 a year.  Regardless of what kind of boss he was when he was a CEO, its still a tough position for anyone to be in.  Read the full story here.