Bankrupt Toys "R" Us asks court to okay huge executive bonuses
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Bankrupt retailer Toys "R" Us disclosed in court papers that it paid CEO David Brandon a $2.8 million retention bonus just before filing for Chapter 11 protection in September. Moreover, it's now asking court approval to approve up to another $12 million in incentive bonuses for Brandon, who already receives a base salary of $3.7 million. The New Jersey-based company also is seeking up to another $20 million in incentive pay for 16 other top executives, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
- Toys "R" Us statement: "This type of plan is standard practice for a company involved in a restructuring and in this case rewards team members at all levels of the company."
Oh, really? At all levels? Brandon could receive nearly $15 million that is related to a bankruptcy that it was his job to prevent from happening in the first place. Other senior execs could get over $1 million a piece. The other 3,805 employees get to share from what would be a $60 million pot, per court approval, which works out to less than $16,000 per head. Guess which group will be manning cash registers at 5pm on Thanksgiving Day, and which will be home with their families?
- Note: Brandon, who did a remarkable job in a prior CEO role with Domino's. But he should be sticking around to fix Toys "R" Us out of a sense of obligation — obviously he knew there were problems upon joining in mid-2015 — not because he's being bribed.
Among those who will receive no bonuses are limited partners in the private equity funds that owned Toys "R" Us (although they did pull out some money earlier via fees). But perhaps that's appropriate, given that the retailer's struggles are due as much to over-leveraging as to competition from the likes of Amazon and Walmart.
Below is one of the related court documents, filed last week:
