Businesses Are More Efficient Than The Government?
source: dealbook.blogs
Some high school students will be making their way back to school this week on a bus, or, if they are lucky, in their very own car. But the stepdaughter of Edward Mueller, the new chief executive of Qwest Communications, has a much fancier option.
A regulatory filing made Friday, on the eve of the holiday weekend, disclosed that Qwest has authorized Mr. Mueller’s wife and her daughter to use Qwest’s corporate jet to travel between Denver, where the telecommunications company is based, and California, where Mr. Mueller’s stepdaughter is finishing high school.
Asked about the filing by the Rocky Mountain News, a Qwest spokesman said the agreement reflects an “appreciation for his family situation as his daughter wraps up her current schooling in California.”
Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate for the Corporate Library, which studies corporate governance issues, called the arrangement “ridiculous.” Of 215 public companies that the Corporate Library examined in a recent report, he said, only 28 allowed a chief executive’s family and friends to use the corporate jet.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently changed the rules surrounding executive compensation, requiring greater disclosure of the perks that top management receives. The changes came amid widespread concern that shareholders of public companies were not fully aware of the size and scope of the benefits that corporate chiefs were getting.
Last month, Qwest chose Mr. Mueller, a telecommunications industry veteran and a former chief executive of the retailer Williams-Sonoma, to succeed Richard Notebaert as its chief executive. The move required Mr. Mueller to relocate from California to Colorado.
Footnoted.org, which looks for interesting nuggets among corporate filings, estimated that the corporate-jet perk could be costing Qwest as much as $600,000, based on normal charter rates for the Falcon 2000. “As for me, it certainly beats the B-64 bus that I used to take to high school,” Michelle Leder wrote.
source: dealbook.blogs
Some high school students will be making their way back to school this week on a bus, or, if they are lucky, in their very own car. But the stepdaughter of Edward Mueller, the new chief executive of Qwest Communications, has a much fancier option.
A regulatory filing made Friday, on the eve of the holiday weekend, disclosed that Qwest has authorized Mr. Mueller’s wife and her daughter to use Qwest’s corporate jet to travel between Denver, where the telecommunications company is based, and California, where Mr. Mueller’s stepdaughter is finishing high school.
Asked about the filing by the Rocky Mountain News, a Qwest spokesman said the agreement reflects an “appreciation for his family situation as his daughter wraps up her current schooling in California.”
Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate for the Corporate Library, which studies corporate governance issues, called the arrangement “ridiculous.” Of 215 public companies that the Corporate Library examined in a recent report, he said, only 28 allowed a chief executive’s family and friends to use the corporate jet.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently changed the rules surrounding executive compensation, requiring greater disclosure of the perks that top management receives. The changes came amid widespread concern that shareholders of public companies were not fully aware of the size and scope of the benefits that corporate chiefs were getting.
Last month, Qwest chose Mr. Mueller, a telecommunications industry veteran and a former chief executive of the retailer Williams-Sonoma, to succeed Richard Notebaert as its chief executive. The move required Mr. Mueller to relocate from California to Colorado.
Footnoted.org, which looks for interesting nuggets among corporate filings, estimated that the corporate-jet perk could be costing Qwest as much as $600,000, based on normal charter rates for the Falcon 2000. “As for me, it certainly beats the B-64 bus that I used to take to high school,” Michelle Leder wrote.
