Omnicom Bosses Get Jackpot Payouts Even if They Are Fired
Four of Omnicom (OMC)’s top five executives will receive pensions even if they are terminated “for cause,” according to the ad agency holding company’s filings with the SEC.
The generous pay-for-failure provisions are interesting in light of a report in The Wall Street Journal that showed pensions for top executives rising 19 percent in 2008, as companies squirrel away obscure compensation clauses that are hard to decipher in companies’ financial disclosures.
The WSJ specifically cited Omnicom — the parent of BBDO, DDB, TBWA and others — as one company that dreamt up a new euphemism for pension: “Senior Executive Restricted Covenant & Retention Plan.”
You can examine that plan on page 20 of this SEC document. Here’s a summary of cash payments that CEO John Wren et al receive upon retirement:
- Omnicom’s Senior Executive Restricted Covenant & Retention Plan
- CEO John Wren: $5 million plus $1.25 million annually for 15 years.
- CFO Randall Weisenburger: $4 million plus $1.2 million annually for 15 years.
- DDB CEO Charles Brymer: $2.5 million plus $292,000 annually for 15 years.
- DAS CEO Thomas Harrison: $2.5 million plus $450,000 annually for 10 years.
- BBDO CEO Andrew Robertson: $2.5 million plus $425,000 annually for 15 years
All except Harrison get these payments even if they are terminated for cause. And those payments come with various stock grants. Makes your 401(k) look rather less appealing, no?
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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