8 Outrageous Executive Perks

Gold Wrapping Paper and Bow made out of Beautiful Satin Ribbon makes any Gift even more Special

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 30 March 2011

Some executives' multimillion-dollar pay packages make headlines and anger the little guys. But shareholders should also mind the extra, less talked-about benefits.

While some perks are merely outrageous because they’re given to executives who already earn vast fortunes, others have proved to be a sign of executive larceny and lax oversight by a company’s board of directors.

Topics

Lists

$2 Million Birthday Party

Company: Tyco International (symbol TYC)

Sponsored Content

Post-Mortem Non-Compete

Company: Shaw Group (SHAW)

Sponsored Content

Housekeeping

Company: Tyson Foods (TSN)

Sponsored Content

Flying School Bus

Company: Qwest Communication International (Q)

Sponsored Content

Tax-Free California

Company: Occidental Petroleum (OXY)

Over the course of the next six years, the Los Angeles–based energy company shelled out $5.8 million to pay taxes for Irani. But the problem with paying taxes for someone is that even the tax payment is taxable. There’s also tax on the tax on the tax, making this one of the most egregious corporate perks in America. Occidental, long a target of pay critics, responded to shareholder objections by paying Irani a lump sum of $95 million in 1997 to buy out his contract and rescind the company tax subsidy.

Sponsored Content

Flying Cash Cow

Company: Apple (AAPL)

Sponsored Content

Super Security

Company: Oracle (ORCL)

Sponsored Content

Box Seats 'Til Death

Company: General Electric (GE)

But during a bitter divorce, Welch’s ex-wife detailed a multimillion-dollar litany of perks that GE provided -- both before and after Welch retired. Among them: fresh flowers and a wait-staff for his New York City apartment; floor-level seats for Knicks games; a sky box for Red Sox games; and VIP seating at the French Open. Experts say the resulting brouhaha is one of the reasons regulators revamped corporate-disclosure rules. Welch subsequently gave up the bulk of his perks.

Sponsored Content

Kristof, editor of SideHusl.com, is an award-winning financial journalist, who writes regularly for Kiplinger's Personal Finance and CBS MoneyWatch. She's the author of Investing 101, Taming the Tuition Tiger and Kathy Kristof's Complete Book of Dollars and Sense. But perhaps her biggest claim to fame is that she was once a Jeopardy question: Kathy Kristof replaced what famous personal finance columnist, who died in 1991? Answer: Sylvia Porter.