Why is this happening?? CEO'S are paid based on their contribution to the success of the organization.. We can win 30 medals at a major with a monkey at the helm.. Less than a week after laying off more than 10 percent of its staff, USA Track & Field released tax records Wednesday that indicate chief executive Max Siegel earned more than $1.2 million in salary in 2018, plus another $3 million in deferred compensation.https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/04/23/usa-track-field-defends-ceos-42-million-2018-salary-number/?outputType=amp LRC Note by Rojo. I've found a 2nd article on the contract that is very interesting. See my comments below. Ok. I found a new article analyzing this $4.2 million saga by Rich Perelman and it's very good. Everyone needs to read it (link at the bottom). I was most fascinated by two things in the piece.1) Was it even Siegel's idea to extend with Nike? There are conflicting reports but it's entirely possible that the two Nike execs asked to be introduced to Siegel as they had an idea to pitch Nike on the multi-year endorsement contract.
Rich Perelman wrote:
What Siegel’s role in this deal was is not exactly clear. In a lengthy story about Siegel in October 2016, The Washington Post reported that then-Board chair Steve Miller “acknowledged that the deal that produced most of that new income — a long-term sponsorship agreement with Nike worth a reported $500 million — was primarily negotiated by two former Nike executives whose small consulting firm is collecting $23.75 million in commission payments from USA Track and Field through 2039.”
and
“Board chairman Miller, a former Nike executive, said the idea to approach Nike about a long-term extension did not come from Siegel. Instead, Miller said, the idea came from former Nike executives Adam Helfant and Chris Bevilacqua, friends of his, who contacted him not long after Siegel took over as CEO and asked for Miller to introduce them to Siegel. Helfant and Bevilacqua then led negotiations for USA Track and Field on the Nike deal, Miller said.”
But in a Sports Business Daily story announcing the deal in April 2014:
“USATF CEO Max Siegel said that the NGB reached out to Nike about extending its sponsorship after the ’12 London Games. He proposed negotiating a long-term deal to Nike because the organization wanted the stability such an agreement would provide.”
2) Was it possible this $3 million in deferred compensation agreed to only when Vin Lananna was put on leave?
Rich Perelman wrote:
If the financial statements are correct that the $3 million in bonuses from 2019-22 were agreed to by the Board in 2018, this could have been during the time that elected president Vin Lananna was suspended by the Board on 18 February 2018 for conflicts of interest with his then-position at TrackTown USA.
That’s the question you have to ask yourself, and the former and current members of the USATF Board of Directors.