Loser CEOs Can Never Truly Lose, Pandemic Edition

The masters of the universe can never be wrong, they can only be wronged.Kostas Lymperopoulos/CSM via ZUMA

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If you win, they pay you big bucks. If you lose, they pay you big bucks:

The coronavirus recession tipped dozens of troubled companies into bankruptcy, setting off a rush of store closures, furloughs and layoffs. But several major brands, including Hertz Global, J.C. Penney and Neiman Marcus, doled out millions in executive bonuses just before filing for Chapter 11 protection, according to a Washington Post analysis of regulatory filings and court documents.

Since the pandemic took hold in March, at least 18 large companies have rewarded executives with six- and seven-figure payouts before asking bankruptcy courts to shield them from landlords, suppliers and other creditors while they restructured, the Post review found. They collectively meted out more than $135 million, documents show, while listing $79 billion in debts.

The putative reason for this is that all these loser executives will bail out if they don’t get their bonuses. And maybe they would. But it’s telling that apparently the boards of these companies can’t even fathom promoting one of their many vice presidents to take over the job, perhaps with some kind of incentive for negotiating favorable Chapter 11 terms. Nope. It’s the loser CEO or nothing.

I suppose part of this is laziness, but part of it is probably an unwillingness to admit that the CEO they hired has done a bad job. He’s such a great guy! Customers love him! Events just didn’t go our way.

Warning: Don’t try this trick if you are not part of the C-suite. It won’t work.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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