惠普新年遭遇老問題
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????去年的惠普（HP）股東大會上，“薪酬話語權”提案被多數票否決，這樣的結果多少讓人有些疑惑。根據機構投資者委員會（Council of Institutional Investors）的一項研究，獲多數否決票的公司不到1.6%，而且都是些被認為薪酬與業績嚴重脫鉤的公司。 ????同樣是去年，惠普的董事任命流程（有4名董事離任，新增5名董事）遭到了批評，原因是這一流程不符合公司公布的董事會政策準則。惠普在提交股東委托書前夕為這個由董事長雷?蘭恩牽頭的任命流程給出了多種解釋，各種說法彼此并不一致。因此，代理投票顧問公司機構股東服務公司（Institutional Shareholder Services，ISS）建議反對一些惠普董事當選。 ????又是一年，上周惠普發布了新的股東委托書。但似乎這家科技巨頭想要改變的東西越多，一成不變的東西也就越多。 ????惠普已連續三年每年都換一任首席執行官（梅格?惠特曼取代了李艾科，之前是李艾科取代了2010年8月離職的馬克?赫德）。惠普再一次地向股東提交了新的董事會名單（兩名新董事以及包括前首席執行官在內的四名董事離任）。而且，今年的股東委托書和去年犯了同樣的毛病：不合理的高管薪酬和董事提名。 ????或許惠普的出發點是好的，但具體執行卻一敗涂地。 天價薪酬，低迷業績 ????為了簡單起見，我們暫且不提惠普前任首席執行官李艾科的遣散費。去年，他因表現未達預期而離職，但卻獲得了2,500萬美元的離職費。我們暫且把注意力放在即將發生的情形。惠普已對薪酬政策做了一些調整，詳見股東委托書的薪酬討論和分析章節，希望能讓投資者滿意。“惠普的薪酬理念是績效薪酬，這是公司人力資源和薪酬委員會一切薪酬決定的基石，”惠普一位發言人稱。 ????但如果看看去年3月“薪酬話語權”提案被否決后，惠特曼和蘭恩實際上從惠普拿到了多少錢，惠普的這一提案似乎面臨再度被否決的命運。 ????惠特曼擔任惠普董事期間（2011年9月22日被任命為惠普首席執行官之前），惠普股價下跌超過了50%，部分是因為董事會批準的一項戰略。成為首席執行官后，9月27日，惠特曼獲得了190萬股股票期權。根據授予條款，只有在惠普股價（連續20個交易日）比行權價高出20%，才能實施部分期權；高出40%，才能再實施部分期權。聽起來像是和績效掛鉤，但事實果真如此嗎？ ????事實上，無論怎么看，20%和40%都算不上什么高標準。首先，當惠特曼加入惠普董事會時，惠普股價已漲了50%。其次，從2005年8月16日起，到2011年8月底（她擔任董事期間）惠普股價突然掉頭下跌前，該股收盤價從未低于行權價。第三，在惠特曼獲授股票期權前五年，惠普股票的平均收盤價比行權價高出了77%。而且，即便惠普并未公布新戰略，2012年2月3日惠普股價已上漲23%。 ????這筆期權值多少錢？如果達到40%的要求，這筆期權將價值1,800萬美元。如果股價升至五年均值，期權價值則將超過3,400萬美元。 |
????Last proxy season, HP achieved the dubious distinction of receiving a majority no vote from its shareholders on its executive compensation programs. According to a Council of Institutional Investors study, investors bestowed that distinction on less than 1.6% of companies, those deemed to be the worst pay offenders. ????Last year, too, HP's (HPQ) board nominations process (which removed four board members and added five more) came under fire because the process did not conform to stated board policy guidelines. In the run up to the proxy filing, HP provided varying explanations about the process, which had been headed by chair Ray Lane. As a result, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recommended against the election of some HP board members. ????It is a new year and HP issued its new proxy last week. But the more things seem to change at the tech giant, the more they stay the same. ????HP sports a different CEO this year for the third year running (Meg Whitman replaced Leo Apotheker who replaced Mark Hurd who left in August 2010). HP, yet again, is proposing a new board slate to shareholders (with two new board members and four, including the former CEO, having exited). And the proxy this year reveals the same shortcomings as it did last year: misguided compensation and board nominations. ????Maybe HP has good intentions, but it's falling down on execution. Plenty of pay, but where's the performance? ????To keep things simple, let's not even get into the issue of former CEO Leo Apotheker's $25 million exit pay for failure last year. Let's focus on what's to come. HP has made some changes in its compensation policies, which it outlines in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis section of the proxy in hopes this may satisfy investors. "HP has a 'pay-for-performance' philosophy which forms the foundation of all of the HR and Compensation Committee's decisions regarding compensation," an HP spokesperson says. ????But if we look into what Whitman and Lane were actually awarded following the shareholder rebuke last March, HP seems to be itching for a no vote on "say on pay" yet again. ????During Whitman's tenure as an HP board member (before she was appointed CEO on September 22), HP's stock dropped by over 50%, in part related to a board-approved strategy. After becoming CEO, she was awarded stock options on September 27 enabling her to buy 1.9 million shares. Under the terms of her award, the stock price must close at 20% above the exercise price (for 20 consecutive trading days) for a portion of the stock options to vest and 40% above for another portion to vest. That may sound like pay for performance, but is it? ????By almost any measure, it turns out, 20% and 40% aren't high hurdles at all. First, the stock was 50% higher when she joined the board. Second, prior to the stock's abrupt drop at the end of August (on her watch as a board member), the stock price hadn't closed as low as the option's exercise price since August 16, 2005. Third, the average closing price of the stock in the five years preceding the award was 77% higher than the exercise price. And without even announcing a new strategy, the stock price was already up 23% on February 3, 2012. |
