The Boeing Company named David Calhoun its new Chief Executive Officer a few weeks ago. The company, once the pride of Seattle, is trying to get back on course after discarding its engineering focus and putting the company’s direction in the hands of bean counters. The end result, as we know, was the crash of two aircraft, killing 346 people, and the grounding of the 737 Max — the latest iteration of its venerable workhorse.
Arch-rival Airbus took orders for more than a hundred aircraft at the 2019 Paris Air Show. Boeing left the show without an order. None. Zero. Nada.
The new chief executive Calhoun, a protege of former General Electric CEO “Neutron Jack” Welch, was an ardent defender of his predecessor at Boeing. He now says the company was in worse shape than he thought, already deflecting blame. “It’s more than I imagined it would be, honestly,” Calhoun said. “And it speaks to the weaknesses of our leadership.” (Welch got his nickname for his reputation of firing people but leaving buildings intact.)
Calhoun will be paid $1.4 million salary and guaranteed(!) cash bonus of $2.5 million and $10 million in restricted stock and another $7 million cash if the 737 Max gets back in the air. (“Bonus” does not mean the same thing in corporate execu-speak as it does to the rest of us.)
Boeing announced that its fired CEO Dennis Muilenburg will not receive severance pay. In addition, the company stated he is forfeiting his $14.6 million performance bonus for 2019. Muilenburg will still receive pension, deferred compensation benefits and long-term incentive awards totaling $62.2 million. Boeing paid the now-disgraced chief executive $23.4 million in 2018.
Muilenburg also holds options to purchase nearly 73,000 shares of Boeing stock at approximately $76 per share. Boeing’s share price currently hovers around $265, its twelve-month low. Still, not bad: an immediate profit of about $14 million when he exercises his options.
