SiliconBeat

The Securities and Exchange Commission said today it has proposed revisions to some of its rules related to proxy disclosures that the Commission says would include information about:

• The relationship of a company’s overall compensation policies to risk.
• The qualifications of directors, executive officers and nominees.
• Company leadership structure.
• Potential conflicts of interests of compensation consultants.

The proposals are also intended to Read the rest of this entry »

Shareholders at Google have put forward three proposals of their own to be voted on at the company’s annual meeting, according to the search-engine’s proxy filed today with the SEC.

One,  offered by the Teamsters, proposes that the company Read the rest of this entry »

Add eBay to the list of  technology company seeking to rescue its employees underwater options. Last week, the online auctioneer’s board of directors approved putting two proposals before shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on April 29 that would facilitate the exchange of underwater options for a smaller number of restricted shares  that will retain value as long as eBay’s stock price does.

“Like many companies, we have experienced a significant decline Read the rest of this entry »

Hewlett-Packard gave its boss, Mark Hurd, $25.4 million in cash last year, including a $1.45 million salary and $23.9 million in bonus money, according to compensation figures contained in the company’s proxy which it filed late on Inauguration Day.

Throw in stock awards that the company  valued at Read the rest of this entry »

“One clear sign of the challenging economic environment we face is the decision by executives to take a pay cut,” according to a survey of executive pay practices by Equilar, the Redwood City information services firm that mines SEC filings for compensation data.

Of course, another “clear sign” might be the accelerating rate of layoffs. Newly announced plans to eliminate another Read the rest of this entry »

Intuitive Surgical, the oh-so-successful Sunnyvale maker of robotic surgery tools, said that its board of directors approved a severance plan that covers its executives in the event of an involuntary separation from service within 12 months after a change in control” of the company.

The news here is: also covered by the same plan are all of Intuitive’s other current employees who have been with the company for at least six months when such an event occurs.

Under the terms of the plan, eligible employees would be entitled to: Read the rest of this entry »

Shutterfly, the Redwood City Internet-based digital photo sharing site, boosted the salary of its chief executive, Jeffrey Housenbold, by nearly two-thirds next year to $485,000 from the $300,000 salary he got in 2008, according to a filing the company made Monday with the SEC. That comes on the heels of a 9 percent salary increase he got last year. He’ll also get 10 percent of his new salary as a guaranteed minimum bonus to his cash compensation.

The company also served up a helping of Read the rest of this entry »

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 »

Hansen Medical sweetened its severance agreements with several top executives last week as part of its efforts to retain them. That’s right, in order to keep them around, Hansen increased how much cash it would pay “in the  event of a covered termination of employment”, lengthened the period after their termination during which it would pay for their COBRA medical benefits and significantly increased the accelerated vesting of their equity.

Under its previous agreement with its top brass, Hansen Medical agreed to Read the rest of this entry »

Less than two years after a policy was approved to reimburse him for the use of his private aircraft on business trips, JDS Uniphase Chief Executive Kevin Kennedy sold his plane, according to the company’s proxy issued in advance of its Nov. 12 annual meeting.

The audit committee of the company’s board of directors approved the policy in June 2006. The policy limited the reimbursement to $2,100 per flight hour plus a 12.5% fuel surcharge rate. The policy limited the amount of reimbursement to $800,000 per year. The rates were established “following review of fair market rates applicable to the rental and use of similar aircraft.”

We could find no Read the rest of this entry »