By Robert Farago
June 28, 2008 - 18 views
Ha! So close, yet so far. American Axle CEO Dick Dauch's '07 paycheck– $5.55m salary and a $8.5m bonus– doesn't quite eclipse GM CEO Rick Wagoner's $14.4m compensation. But hey, what's $350k between friends? And, it must be said, that's a lot of money– even if Dauch did break– sorry, "settle" a three-month strike by cutting half of AA's 3,650 member unionized workforce, instituting a two-tier wage system (lowering newbie wages by roughly 50 percent) and "convincing" GM to kick-in $215m to pay for bailouts. As AA's independent compensation committee put it, the bonus "took into account the company's strong financial performance in 2007, the structural transformation achieved under our new labor agreements with the UAW and… Dauch's leadership role in these negotiations." There, that sounds better. Neither the UAW nor American Axle's president (Dauch's son, appointed post-strike) were available for comment. Meanwhile, well done to The Detroit News for not totaling the CEO's compensation for their headline. There's only such much shock and awe Motown can take these days. (P.S. Isn't it amazing how all this big bucks salary stuff comes out during the weekend?)
Subscribe to New Content Alerts12 Responses to “ American Axle CEO Dick Dauch Pockets $14.05m for ‘07 ”
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June 28th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Well, at least his company made a profit, correct?
Wagoner can’t claim the same.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Regardless of whether the company makes a profit or not, I feel that the discrepancy between what a CEO and average worker of a company gets paid is far too great. The wealth in this country is being distributed poorly and we’re losing the middle class. After all, the top 1% of the nation’s citizens have more wealth the the bottom 99%.
June 28th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
They’re all going to go belly-up so what’s the big deal? Just shows that both Management and the Union are hell-bent for destruction - they won’t be missed.
June 28th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
He snookered Wagoner into throwing in $215m - that can easily pay all of his salary and then some.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
do not worry folks, when big business is finished creating havoc with the middle class it will start on the lower class. remember ” trickle down”.
June 28th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Bonus? He gets a bonus?
Newsflash: they’re going to go out of business if/when GM goes out of business.
The arrogance is astonishing.
June 28th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
It makes me violently ill to see all these executives being paid so well for killing off the US’ manufacturing infrastructure and doing their best to kick working people out of the middle class.
Of course it is the executives deciding how much they will get paid and they have an army of well dressed consultants to dress it up … just like Enron did.
The moral fabric of large American businesses has mostly been torn to shreds. “I’ve got mine, up yours” seems to be the watchword.
June 29th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Blame the unions. They always ask for too much!
June 29th, 2008 at 11:31 pm
Actually, I think Dauch did a pretty good job this year. Faced with a stubborn union, he stuck to his guns and got the contract the company needed to lower future overhead costs and got some money from GM, and transferred manufacturing to lower cost countries in the process. At the very least you can say he was working aggressively to control costs. What did Rick Wagoner do?
June 30th, 2008 at 10:36 am
While not “happy” with how much he made this year, at least Dick’s company made money. Can the same be said for Rick?
June 30th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Dick’s company could have made $10 million more, if Dick only made 4 million dollars last year.
Think of the COMPANY, Dick!
33 years as a working citizen, and I’m still working on my first million — may death not claim me until I’m in the $1 mil club.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
“They’re all going to go belly-up so what’s the big deal? Just shows that both Management and the Union are hell-bent for destruction - they won’t be missed.”
Yes, but the unions fought to A) not lose their jobs, and B) not lose half of their salaries in case they won item A). They lost both battles.
The executives, on the other hand, will make out with tens of millions each every year (think about it - that’s hundreds of millions over a lifetime, or even a few decades). They’ll also be hired at another tanking company and make the same money next year.
Don’t compare the intentions of unions to men who sacrifice America’s jobs and welfare at their own expense.