Bailout Watch #6: American Express: No bonuses, just cash

American Express, which received $3.4 billion in federal bailout funds, is encouraging cardholders to pay off and close their accounts. But its executives are doing okay.

Chairman and CEO Kenneth Chenault announced he had declined a cash bonus in 2008, but securities filings show he was nevertheless awarded $6.1 million in “non-equity incentive plan compensation.” The proxy states this was a cash payment award negotiated in 2006 and paid in February 2009 for his performance from 2006 through 2008. 

Meanwhile the other four top officers at Amex accepted both standard bonuses and the same type of non-equity incentive plan compensation paid to Chenault in February:

• Edward P. Gilligan, vice chairman: $3.5 million bonus plus $1.125 million cash incentive plan payment.

• Alfred F. Kelly, president: $3 million bonus plus $1.125 million cash incentive plan payment.

• Daniel T. Henry, executive vice president and chief financial officer: $2.1 million bonus plus $300,000 cash incentive plan payment.

• Stephen J. Squeri, executive vice president corporate development and chief information officer: $1.65 million bonus plus $675,000 cash incentive plan payment.

—Andrea Rock

Comments

[Tina Smith]

American Express announced in October prior to the bailouts that it would layoff 7% of the work force worldwide but mainly in the US to save 35 Million dollars. When the bailouts came out American Express opened a Bank Holding Company in order to qualify for 3.1 billion dollars. American Express has 1 year reserve money they should not have received
any bonuses or bailout money if they were not going to use it to save
American jobs. Today even more Amex employees are losing jobs to India based employees because not benefits are paid for them. Many will lose homes and end up on the streets and this does not have to be this way.
American Express Executives are greedy and the board of directors could care less about the USA only India.

STOP USING AMEX - THEY ARE NO LONGER AMERICAN THEY ARE INDIA EXPRESS OR GLOBAL EXPRESS AND TOTALLY ANTI-AMERICAN

[Mark Deuitch]

The goal of the TARP was to prevent an economic meltdown- not save jobs- at least not directly. Stopping companies from hiring and rewarding the best people-whether they are from Boston or Bangalore, is bad for business, bad for the taxpayer and bad for the US economy.

The end result of all the populist pandering is going to be that we spend billions to bail out companies, only to make them less competitive. If I were a headhunter I would be calling every employee at each TARP- constrained company to let them know that other companies- especially foreign ones- can still pay top talent a bonus for doing a good job. Lets sit back and see how well the TARP Co's perform if they are run to please the politicians and not by business rules

[Dan P.]

Another little thing Amex is doing,,,,,Platinum card holders had credit limits placed on balances. My limit was set at $500 over what my balance is. I have enough points in the Mileage Plus account to buy a $1,400. plane ticket. To do that purchase they charge my card with the $1,400. and Mileage Plus re-imburses my account. They cannot charge the ticket to my card because of the limit. I asked for a one time limit increase and they would not do it. I was told to pay $1,400 on my account and it would go through.