Top Executives

NEW YORK -- A three-month internal investigation of the bond trading scandal at Kidder, Peabody & Co. says that the firm's head bond trader acted alone and deliberately in creating $350 million of phony profits.It also said that his trading scheme started much earlier and went on for much longer than previously thought.The report said that the trader, Joseph Jett, who had been hailed as a star performer, never actually made money for the brokerage firm.But it heaps most of the blame for one of Wall Street's biggest frauds on a complete breakdown in the firm's system of supervision and on two of its senior executives.

Compensation for T. Rowe Price Group's top executives went up last year, the Baltimore money manager reported Thursday. Chief Executive Officer and President James A.C. Kennedy's total package rose 10.5 percent to $7.9 million in 2011. Kennedy's base salary remained at $350,000, according to the company's proxy. His cash bonus rose to $5.5 million, from $5 million in 2010. The value of his stock options was $1.96 million, up from $1.7 million. Other compensation, which includes retirement contributions, matching charitable contributions and other benefits, totaled about $70,800, a slight increase from a year earlier.

First Mariner Bancorp Chairman and CEO Edwin F. Hale Sr. got a pay cut last year at a time when the Baltimore-based bank continued to struggle financially while operating under heightened regulatory supervision. According to a document filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Hale's pay package fell nearly $50,000 to $544,847. Other top executives also took pay cuts, including George H. Mantakos, president of 1st Mariner Bank, who saw his compensation drop more than $30,000 to $264,330.

Dan Duquette had been out of a major league front office since 2002, the year he was fired by the Boston Red Sox after eight seasons as the team's general manager. The Orioles had been rejected by one candidate — and possibly more — in the team's month-long search to replace Andy MacPhail as the club's top baseball executive. On Sunday, Duquette found his way back to the big leagues and the Orioles found what they hoped was the man who would lead the team out of its 14-season abyss.

Want to make big money? Land a top corporate job.Want to make really big money? Be dismissed from one.The evidence is irrefutable. J. P. Bolduc is ousted as chief executive of the W. R. Grace & Co. and gets a $20 million going-away present, $5 million more than his contract required.Joseph E. Antonini, forced out as Kmart's chief executive, walks with a $3 million severance package, even though the company performed poorly during his tenure.Robert J. Morgado, the former head of the Warner Music Group, will get between $50 million and $75 million for agreeing to a forced sayonara last month, according to a company executive.

At a time of growing public pressure to cut the salaries of top executives when things are going bad, Westinghouse Electric Corp. has done just that.Westinghouse posted a $1.1 billion loss last year, and its top officers felt the pinch where it hurts most -- in their pocketbooks.The company's bad year cost Paul E. Lego, Westinghouse's chairman and chief executive, about $1.6 million last year, according to Edward Goff, the company's compensation director.Information in proxy materials being mailed to shareholders shows that Mr. Lego received a cash salary of $677,083 last year, down from the $1.68 million he was paid in 1990.

With corporate scandals still fresh in the minds of a public that can be fascinated by the rich but resentful of their lifestyles, federal regulators proposed new rules yesterday to shine a brighter light on how top executives are compensated. Heralded as the most sweeping reform to executive compensation disclosure in 14 years, the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed changes include requiring publicly traded companies to clearly disclose the total annual pay, including perquisites, for the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer and the next three members of top brass.

The directors of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland yesterday agreed to cancel annual bonuses to top executives this year, end its membership in an exclusive golf club and put the health insurer's premium sky box at Oriole Park at Camden Yards up for sale.The board also canceled the Blues' annual Preakness hospitality tent, saying the event, formerly defended as a marketing tool to draw new business, had now become "a liability instead of an asset for the company."Future bonuses for the executives as well as heads of Blues subsidiaries -- 28 executives in all -- will be tied to how well the company serves its 1.4 million subscribers, including the speed and accuracy of processing claims.

The Cosmetic Center Inc., the struggling Columbia-based discount cosmetics retailer, said last night that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and replaced two top executives, including its chief executive officer.In a statement released shortly before 7 p.m., the company said Betsy Burton, president and chief executive officer, and Dwight Crawley, the chief financial officer, have resigned.The new chief executive officer is Kevin Regan, described as a 23-year retail veteran who serves as a director with Pricewater-houseCoopers.

Top executives of Wal-Mart and other large employers would have to sign off personally on annual reports of how much their companies are spending on health insurance in Maryland under the provisions of a law enacted Thursday night by legislators over Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s veto. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation would have primary responsibility for administering the Fair Share Health Care Fund Act, which requires that large private employers spend at least 8 percent of their payroll (6 percent for nonprofits)

As the baseball offseason rolls on and free agency heats up, the Orioles are still, for now, without a top executive. Whoever replaces Andy MacPhail, whether it's former Monteal Expos and Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette or someone else, will be handed the keys to an organization that hasn't had a winning season since 1997, then immediately will be faced with the inevitable question of why he would want to take the helm of the Orioles....

The first interviewee for the Orioles' top executive job is the type of candidate who can fit into all kinds of baseball circles. Jerry Dipoto, the Arizona Diamondbacks' senior vice president of scouting and player development, met Tuesday with the Orioles' interviewing committee, the first of several candidates for the spot recently vacated by president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail. Dipoto, 43, has done a little bit of everything in his career. He was a third-round draft pick by the Cleveland Indians out of Virginia Commonwealth University in 1989.

The latest news on executive pay at publicly traded companies is good - if you happen to be a CEO, that is. Reflecting the national trend, at least 14 highly-paid chief executives of 19 companies surveyed in the Baltimore region saw fatter paychecks in 2010, according to a Sun analysis. We are not interested in vilifying the executives who in many cases steered their companies toward much better financial performances last year. It's entirely possible many were well-deserving of a merit-based wage increase.

Stanley Black & Decker shareholders aren't happy about what the company is paying top executives. About 54 percent of shareholders voted against the executive compensation packages, 35 percent gave them a thumbs up and the rest abstained or were broker non-votes, the company said last week. The results are advisory only, which means the company isn't forced to change its pay practices. Nolan D. Archibald, executive chairman of the company and the former CEO of Towson-based Black & Decker, earned $28 million last year, the company reported earlier.

Top executives at Under Armour Inc., the Baltimore-based performance apparel maker, saw a big boost in their compensation last year as the company's revenues and profits sharply climbed, according to an Under Armour statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Kevin Plank, the chief executive officer, received $1.3 million in total compensation, up from $748,000 in 2009. Brad Dickerson, the chief financial officer, was paid $585,000, up from $368,000 a year earlier.

Baltimore-area hospital CEOs and presidents boast seven-figure salaries, club and gym memberships, and paid financial planning and tax services as part of compensation packages from their nonprofit employers. Nearly a dozen hospitals cover country club dues for top executives. Carroll Hospital, in reporting the compensation to the IRS, disclosed that it requires its chief executive officer to be a member of the exclusive local clubs "to facilitate hospital interaction with the community" and because of the "potential for donors.

Baltimore-area hospital CEOs and presidents boast seven-figure salaries, club and gym memberships, and paid financial planning and tax services as part of compensation packages from their nonprofit employers. Nearly a dozen hospitals cover country club dues for top executives. Carroll Hospital, in reporting the compensation to the IRS, disclosed that it requires its chief executive officer to be a member of the exclusive local clubs "to facilitate hospital interaction with the community" and because of the "potential for donors.

Family issues: Helping employees balance the demands of work and family is a bigger concern for small-business owners than it is for top executives of the nation's largest companies, reports KeyCorp, the banking company. In a recent survey, 58 percent of small business owners said work-family issues were a major part of the culture in their companies. That compares with 28 percent of executives at Fortune 1000 firms in 1995 who said these issues were a major part of their business culture.

Baltimore area hospital CEOs and presidents boast seven-figure salaries, club and gym memberships, and paid financial planning and tax services as part of compensation packages from their nonprofit employers. Nearly a dozen hospitals covered country club dues for top executives. Carroll Hospital, in reporting the compensation to the IRS, disclosed that it requires its CEO to be a member of the exclusive local clubs "to facilitate hospital interaction with the community" and because of the "potential for donors.

Battered by a poor economy and declining endowment, the Walters Art Museum balanced its budget last year by laying off seven people, eliminating another nine open positions and cutting the pay of those remaining. Including that of the boss. Museum Director Gary Vikan took a haircut of about 8 percent from his salary that's reported in tax filings in the $250,000 range — the largest pay cut in percentage terms of anybody in the organization. As well he should have. Everything psychologists know about organizational behavior says that the best leaders share what sacrifices need to be borne by their team.