GM Complains U.S. Government Won't Let Company Pay CEO More

General Motors, the world's largest automaker, has a bone to pick with the same U.S. government that bailed it out three years ago.

GM paid its CEO Dan Akerson $7.7 million in 2011, according to a regulatory filing cited by USA Today. But the company wanted to pay him more, and it took the opportunity Friday to call out government rules that continue to limit Akerson's pay.

The government bailed out GM in 2009 the wake of the financial crisis, giving the Treasury Department say over its executives' pay packages, according to CNNMoney. Though GM had a record-breaking year for profits in 2011, the government still holds about one-third of the company's stock, meaning that many of the bailout rules on compensation still apply.

The automaker argued that those "compensation restraints imposed" by the government are limiting GM’s ability to compete for talent, noting that Akerman's salary is less than that of corporate chiefs at comparable companies. Ford CEO Allan Mulally rose to nearly $30 million in 2011.

GM's move will no doubt further anger Republicans and Tea Partiers, who are already annoyed that the government invested $49.5 billion in the automaker to keep it from going under in 2009.

The U.S. still owns 500 million shares of GM and needs to make $25.5 billion when it sells those shares to recoup its investment.

Contrast GM's salary complaints with what's happening at Chrysler: That automaker has paid back most of its loans from the government, and the Treasury says it lost about $1.3 billion of the $12.5 billion in bailout money it took in 2009 to keep from going under. On Thursday, it posted its best earnings in 12 years.

And yet CEO Sergio Marchionne turned down a salary two years in a row.

Akerson's compensation likely won't rise next year. The Treasury Department announced earlier this month that it's freezing executive pay for GM, AIG and Ally Financial at 2011 levels, according to the Los Angeles Times. All three companies are still repaying government funds.

CEO pay has been the subject of controversy in recent weeks. A group of shareholders at Citigroup voted to reject the bank's executive pay package, which they viewed as unnecessarily large. Other banks have followed suit, with shareholders at Credit Suisse and Barclays expressing dismay with the pay packages at their banks too.

Comments

[ShanaJuly]

08:22 AM on 05/03/2012

I don't think you want to go there GM...7.7 million dollars compensation for the CEO is way more than enough for a company WE bailed out...

[mgjohnson]

11:35 AM on 05/01/2012

If you asked Japanese business owners......... they would tell you that American CEO's already make 20 times what they should be making. Quit your whining, GM.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

07:13 AM on 05/01/2012

How much does a man need to live? and how much more are we apparently satisfied with giving him?

[michelv]

12:27 AM on 05/01/2012

This new bean counter CEO has started an R&D budget slashing spree (read layoffs). But remember, that is what got GM in the dumpster a few years back with lousy cars. He is reaping the benefits of GM's comeback without having contributed much to it. And he is putting GM back on that downward path, probably to save a few bucks in the hope of padding his bonus.

He seems clearly one of those guys who will be around just for a couple of years collecting a nice retirement bounty, and playing bogus cost savings game with complete disregard to future consequences.

[fifthmansix]

09:25 PM on 04/30/2012

CEOS make too much as is 7 million is to much! 1 or 2 million period and no stock options ,maybe a bonus but the workers first . their the ones making the product not the CEOS. 30 million for one year is to much . if you need that every year then you need to buy your own company and quit stealing from the workers and stockholders!!!

[Sepiano]

09:22 PM on 04/30/2012

Worker productivity has gone up significantly, but the only folks getting the benefits are the top tier executives. Great article from Economic Policy Institute, worth checking out.

http://www.epi.org/publication/ib330-productivity-vs-compensation/

Why should only the top execs benefit from worker productivity increases?

[grumpy2]

08:42 PM on 04/30/2012

Sence I am part owner of a company I don't like and have never bought one of their cars all you have to do is pay me back! Then you can spend yourself into bankruptcy again, don't like your job? QUIT! You have proven you are not indispensable. And it IS just as simple as that.

[Jim NLN]

02:36 PM on 04/30/2012

$7.7 million? I will work for half of that............

[Sepiano]

09:12 PM on 04/30/2012

I will accept 1/10th for the position. I might think twice about 1/100th though. $77K a year isn't bad at all these days if the work is decent.

[NMLOBO84]

01:44 PM on 04/30/2012

Hmm, I see! the way I see it is I would never cry foul and make a formal complaint to my bosses because I didn't get a raise this year even though his company made a huge amount of money. He has the audacity to complain to all of us (US citizens), the way I see it we pretty much are the share holders, which make us his boss. Until they can pay off their loan with interest he and the rest of GM and KISS IT, while the rest of try and live pay check to pay check!

[JoAnn Kennedy]

01:40 PM on 04/30/2012

Oh poor baby -- why don't you get in one of your GM cars and take a look at some of destroyed communities in Ohio, Michigan etc.... You don't deserve a raise, the government bailed you !! ME, that's my tax dollars that helped you and your company stay afloat. here's a real clue CLUELESS -- make a better car, that runs efficiently on 50 mpg, that is affordable, that doesn't look like a tuna cruiser. Want some cheese with that whine ???

[rudy in la]

12:23 PM on 04/30/2012

When the government bailed out Chrysler the first time, back in the seventies, Lee Iacocca made every executive and board member buy Chrysler stock and work for relatively low wages (compared to comparable salaries at Ford and GM), declaring they needed to have skin in the game. It was amazing that before that bailout, the board and most executives held NO Chrysler stock or very little. Shocking ehh? So now, the goal is to make as much money as possible through salary and bonuses in case (before?) GM crashes and burns again. I don't know if these execs are worth the money they get now, or whether they deserve more, but man, do you think you could wait a while longer? You barely survived thanks to the largess of the American taxpayer. Give me a break.

[dvmweb1984]

12:09 PM on 04/30/2012

I agree with most of the comments. Pay off the bail out debt. Sell more cars and trucks. Maybe fire him a hire some new blood. GM is still not over the hump.

[StopMakingSense2]

12:00 PM on 04/30/2012

Then make enough to pay off the debt and get the government off your back! The job wouldn't exist if not for the benevolence of Uncle Sam! If money is the only thing that motivates him then he wouldn't be much of a leader anyway!

[JoAnn Kennedy]

01:43 PM on 04/30/2012

Uncle Sam??? you mean me, you, my neighbor, Aunt Mary, my father, my brother, your relatives -- that's right our sweat equity -- we should all get a new GM car for the life support GM has been on compliments of the US taxpayer.

[satyrday]

11:27 AM on 04/30/2012

Then dust off the resume, and move along, Mr. Akerson.

What's stopping you?

[Napoleon3]

10:58 AM on 04/30/2012

I always find funny how most liberals hate CEO getting high salaries but ok with Kobe getting more for dribbling a basketball. Which do you think has more impact.

[Hpotterfan77]

12:45 PM on 04/30/2012

As a liberal, I believe they are BOTH overpaid. I've always said that it's a shame that athletes get paid millions more than those who save lives such as doctors, nurses, etc. It's a shame!

[ruolivert]

01:54 PM on 04/30/2012

The CEO of a company that should have gone bankrupt vs a man who generates billions of dollars in revenue for not just dribbling a ball but spending more time working on his craft that most people could ever imagine. Kobe works WAY harder to do what he does then the CEO of any corporation

[Napoleon3]

03:02 PM on 04/30/2012

The answer is a person is worth what someone is willing to pay and the market dictates. It is highly competitive market for CEO at this level. You want GM to be able to pay top dollar to get best talent like you want Lakers to have the same freedom. I know it's tax payer dollars but it does not change the fundamentals of capitalism. Some of you don't see value in CEO because you think they don't deserve the money but the shareholders do.