From The "Way-Back Machine": 12 Years Ago, This Month: Fred Hassan Was Paid $189 Million -- In Bridge Troll Taxes, To Get Sch-Merck Deal Done...

There have certainly been dozens since the below late-2012 rich old white guys' "census" was taken (I think Mr. O'Neal was the only person of color -- beside Hassan, that made the list), but here are -- as of a decade ago -- at least 21 CEOs who were paid over $100 million each, to walk away. For his part, Mr. Hassan was paid more (per year of "service"), for a shorter time in the job, than nearly anyone on the list. End update.

It is good to see that more and more main stream media outlets are making a more fullsome and realistic accounting of what Ex-CEO Fred Hassan's severance package was really worth, in equity values, to him. Recall that in late 2009, it was widely reported that he was "only getting" around $50 million to leave Schering-Plough, on merger day. [UPDATING NOTE FOR GRAPHIC, AT RIGHT: Add about $4.4 million for each additional dollar of Merck NYSE stock price, above the last SGP quoted NYSE price of $28.15, on merger day, November 3, 2009 -- and with Merck at around $38.50 on the NYSE this morning, the chart at right would yield. . . yep, about $220 to $225 million for Fred Hassan.]

While ABC still isn't fully valuing the equity (by my calcuations, Mr. Hassan carted off around $225 million -- which would place him at No. 4 or 5 on the list), it does peg his exit pay at just under $190 million -- which places him at No. 7, all-time.

Just a bit from the ABC article then -- do go read it all:

. . . .21 CEOs over $100 million

Company | CEO Name | Tenure | Total Payout

1. General Electric | John F. Welch Jr. | 1981-2001 | $417,361,902

2. Exxon Mobil Corp. | Lee R. Raymond | 1993-2005 | $320,599,861

3. UnitedHealth Group | William D. McGuire | 1991-2006 | $285,996,009

4. AT&T | Edward E. Whitacre Jr. | 1990-2007 | $230,048,463

5. Home Depot Inc. | Robert L. Nardelli 2000-2007 | $223,290,123

6. North Fork Bank | John A. Kanas | 1977-2006 | $214,300,000

7. Merck & Co., Inc./Schering-Plough | Fred Hassan | 2003-2009 | $225 Million $189,352,324

8. IBM | Louis V. Gerstner Jr. | 1993-2002 | $189,005,929

9. Pfizer Inc. | Hank A. McKinnell Jr. | 2001-2006 | $188,329,553

10. CVS Caremark Corp. | Thomas M. Ryan | 1998-2011 | $185,415,435

11. Gillette Co. | James M. Kilts | 2001-2005 | $164,532,192

12. Target Corp. | Robert J. Ulrich | 1994-2008 | $164,162,612

13. Merrill Lynch & Co. | E. Stanley O'Neal | 2002-2007 | $161,500,000

14. U.S. Bancorp | Jerry A. Grundhofer | 2001-2006 | $159,064,090

15. Omnicare, Inc. | Joel F. Gemunder | 2001-2010 | $146,001,476

16. Wachovia/South Trust | Wallace D. Malone Jr. | 1981-2004 | $125,292,818. . . .

Fred Hassan ahead of Louis Gerstner at IBM, and Stan O'Neal at Merrill Lynch? I am sorry, but that is. . . disgusting.

To be clear, I will never begrudge Jack Welch (No. 1) his walking pay -- for whatever else one might say about the man, he truly enhanced shareholder value at GE by orders of magnitude -- not just percentages. Hassan is precisely the opposite story -- a bridge troll, and one that required payment, to get a deal done -- i.e., to cross the bridge.

In a year obliterated by a global pandemic -- these times, of a decade or more ago -- or even. . . six to eight years ago, now -- seem an entirely lost life-time ago. But smiling, just the same. . . onward, as mRNA is "the new hotness", where Vytorin was even then "the old and busted joint". . . grinning.

नमस्ते