Tuesday, October 04, 2011

Tribune bonus plan OKd by bankruptcy judge


(Crain's) — The judge in Tribune Co.'s bankruptcy approved a management incentive plan that will pay bonuses of as much as $42.5 million to 640 employees.

“I think it's entirely reasonable to order this relief in these uncertain times,” Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey said during a hearing on the plan Tuesday.

There were no objections to the plan proposed by the Chicago-based media company, the judge noted.

Tribune, the publisher of newspapers that include the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times as well as TV outlets such as WGN-TV, has been in bankruptcy since December 2008. It filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors a year after real estate mogul Sam Zell led an $8.2-billion leveraged buyout of the company.

Resolution of the bankruptcy is currently waiting on a decision from Judge Carey regarding two competing reorganization plans, one proposed by the company and certain creditors and the other offered by a dissident group of creditors. The judge hasn't indicated when he will deliver that decision.



Tribune bonus plan OKd by bankruptcy judge | Marketing/media | Crain's Chicago Business

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Total Horseshit!!!!!!
People are getting laid off so these dicks can get a bonus.
Executives getting paid 7 figure salaries need an incentive to do their jobs!!

Tribune management is an embarrassment.

Anonymous said...

In order to retain a superior management team at the Tribune Company bonuses are in order, otherwise they would abandon the company in droves.

$.02 said...

“I think it's entirely reasonable to order this relief in these uncertain times,” Delaware Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey... where does this guy get off?

Where is OUR relief you friggin moron. Oh, the color pink suffices.

This is as egregious as it is inane. Hire me and I'll drive the droves off, streamline the company from the top down, and get you an adequate profit margin.

This company is as top heavy as Morgana the Kissing Bandit, and the lipstick on the pig is still just lipstick.

Maddening.

Anonymous said...

What is it that Tribune would lose if top management didn't get these bonuses? Where would they go? Who would hire them? The premise of the need for bonuses is a lie. A federal judge is supposed to represent the people of the United States and its laws. He is supposed to be "just." The judge has failed.

Anonymous said...

Come on Guys, where could we find the talent to come up with making the paper smaller, getting rid of employees and asking more for less of a product? Who among us would have the nerve? Who among us could bare the shame? This is why they deserve this Monetary Burden.

LaLaLand said...

Geee I wonder if Russ is going too get HIS Bonus why dont you five (5) folks go ask him you sound kinda pissed off

Anonymous said...

Looks like the judge will get plenty of hunting in at the Game Reserve the Tribune Execs hang out at. Can't figure why he threw in with them instead of the little people?

Anonymous said...

When Otis died there was no one left to guard the gate to the Garden. Now it's being burrowed through and through by the Garden Weasels.

Anonymous said...

The people of So. Ca. no longer need or want the product you produce. Just like the buggy whip 120 years ago. You can waste you time bemoaning that fact or you can prepare yourself for the present and future. Finger pointing and whinning will not put food on the table. I worked for that rag for 23 years and got the message over 10 years ago when the liners went from 25 per bundle to 65 per bundle. I went back to school and prepared myself. Russ Newton's bonus didn't put me out of a job, the wants and needs of our customers did!

Anonymous said...

A lot of people I talk to still enjoy a reading a Broadsheet.
However the days of carrying a full load at college or a trade school and working for the Times is a thing of the past.
Glad I did when I had the opportunity.

Anonymous said...

My ten year tenure at the Times ended in 1982. I was proud to be a part of a great newspaper. I've followed the Times as an interested onlooker for years and I'm sad to see such a great organization fall apart. The Chicago machine has defiled a newspaper and worse it has defecated on our country with it's corrupted political demogogary. Our nation will survive but I can only pray for the Times.