SiliconBeat

Calpine, the power generator that declared bankruptcy about three years ago from which it re-emerged this past January, released details of the compensation for the new chief legal officer it hired last August, which evidently came a day before it previous general counsel’s employment was terminated, according to an Aug. 11 employment agreement the company filed along with its quarterly financial filing today.

Thaddeus Miller (pictured), who agreed to become an executive vice president and its chief legal officer that day, is getting a $700,000 salary and will receive a pro-rated 2008 bonus targeted at Read the rest of this entry »

It was a big week for personnel changes at Calpine. The company named a new chief executive Monday.What got less notice was the termination the next day of the company’ general counsel, Gregory Doody, news of which Calpine filed with the SEC on Thursday. The language of the filing doesn’t give a clue who initiated the termination, but the writing may have been on the wall for this one. Back on July 16 the company Read the rest of this entry »

As temp jobs go, acting as the interim chief operations officer for a multi-billion dollar company would seem to be a rather demanding one.

Calpine, the San Jose energy provider that emerged from bankruptcy proceedings in January, named Todd Filsinger its interim chief operations officer May 2, according to an SEC filing Thursday. Filsinger, a managing partner with PA Consulting, will work in the position as an independent contractor hired by his own consulting firm, which Calpine has agreed to pay $220,000 a month (that’s 2.64 million a year) in exchange for Filsinger’s services and those of a second consultant to assist him. Read the rest of this entry »

Pete Cartwright, the founder and ex-CEO of Calpine, said Tuesday that a new company he has co-founded that employs technology to “produce reliable electricity and less greenhouse gas” has lined up its first round of venture funding from Sequoia Capital, who is leading the round with Bay Partners, with additional money from Redpoint Ventures.

Cartwright, who was fired from Calpine in November 2005 prior to that company’s bankruptcy filing, joined with another ex-Calpine executive Tom Mason to found Advanced Power Projects, a Fremont company that uses technology that captures “waste heat” from combustion gas turbines and turns it into additional power without the need for a steam turbine, condenser or cooling tower,” according the company’s Web site

The level of funding was conspicuously absent from the press release announcing the news and we have yet to hear back from the company as to why.

Other former Calpine executives working at the new company are its former vice chairman, Ann Curtis, who heads HR, and its former VP of operations, Fred Manuel, who is the company’s senior VP of engineering.

John Redding, formerly with General Electric’s nuclear energy division, heads up marketing and sales, while former Orrick, Herrington & Sutclif lawyer Mike Ross is the new company’s chief financial officer and general counsel.

Robert May, the head of the San Jose energy company Calpine that emerged from bankruptcy in January, will be resigning, he announced Friday, the same day that the company estimated his “success fee” for his effort would be $29.6 million, according to its 10-K filing.

May must be savoring his impending return for good to his home in Florida.The company paid him $65,052 last year for temporary housing near Calpine’s headquarters downtown at 50 W. San Fernando last year, along with $53,710 for commuting between here and his home state.

May’s compensation last year included his $1.5 million salary and $2.4 million bonus, and
$316,123 worth of other compensation. And on Feb. 6 May was given 547,600 restricted shares worth $9 million, but it doesn’t appear to mean much to May who presumably will be long gone before the first half vests in 18 months, but who knows, maybe May will work his wonders on that termination agreement.

Today’s nose dive in Calpine’s stock price was a disaster for shareholders who began and ended the day owning its shares. But for shareholders yet to be? Manna from heaven.

Recall way back to yesterday when news surfaced of proposed equity “emergence” awards contained in a supplement to Calpine’s September reorganization plan that was filed Friday. (Puh-lease don’t call them bonuses — Calpine spokesman Mel Scott doesn’t like that, says Mercury News reporter Scott Duke Harris in his story about them today.)

Calpine’s chief executive, Robert May, is to be given $10.9 million worth of the Calpine’s post-bankruptcy shares. Calpine’s chief lawyer, Gregory Doody, will get $2 million worth of such shares. Executive and senior vice presidents are to get awards worth 300 percent of their “executive competitive Annual Award” (can we call those bonuses?) while managers, vice presidents and director-level employees get 200 percent of “manager’s competitive Annual Awards.”

The company will also give awards to yet-to-be-named executives in charge of operations, finance and administration. (Exactly who is running the shop these days?)

The “emergence awards” will be paid 25 percent in stock options, whose value depends on the stock price rising over time, and 75 percent in restricted stock grants that retain value even if the share price drops. (Unless, of course, it drops to zero.)

And the rank and file? They will each get a stock option award valued at $7,500 on the grant date. They would receive no restricted stock.

But the number of shares behind these stock awards are not spelled out. And there’s the rub.

Late Monday evening Calpine released the news that its financial adviser lowered its estimated value by, oh, some $900 million. Calpine shares lost more than 46 percent of their value after the news. Based on its current price, the number of shares in these so-called emergence awards would have doubled today.

The final terms of the awards, including the number of shares and their price, will be established once the company emerges from bankruptcy by its reorganized board of directors “no later than 90 days after the Effective Date.”

Calpine shares will no doubt be worth more once its debts are discharged after the company emerges from bankruptcy, but Calpine executives can’t help but hope that the lower the grant price for their future awards, the more shares they will get as a result.

Calpine, the troubled San Jose power company struggling to climb out of bankruptcy
proceedings, announced last Friday that its executive vice president for commercial
operations, Thomas N. May, “”will be leaving the company effective immediately.” May, who joined Calpine 15 months ago, was paid $500,000 a year, given a sign-on bonus of $500,000 and guaranteed another $500,000 as a minimum bonus for the final seven months of 2006.

No explanation for the sudden departure was given. The terse notice of May’s termination said he “”will be entitled to certain benefits provided under his employment agreement,” without detailing exactly what those would be.

In May’s employment agreement letter in May 2006 the company said he he would be eligible for a so-called success fee following the company’s emergence from bankruptcy to be determined by the company’s chief executive.

However, if Calpine terminated his employment without cause or if he terminated his
employment with good reason, before a confirmed plan of reorganization became effective, he is entitled to receive a minimum success fee of $1 million.

Among the “good” reasons he might quit would be a material change in his duties, the company’s breach of or failure to renew his contract.

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