Good that Wagoner got fired finally - same would be true for many wallstreet executives

Nothing he did in the last years was a good move its troubling to understand why this happens so late since its only a PR trick and a distraction from something else as ten thousands of workers need to fired as well they want to send a message to calm down the nerves. Only that Wagoner keeps his hefty pensions after being overpaid for many years and the regular workers will loose part of their pensions or their jobs. Also Obama screws with peoples minds to make him look like fighter for the people which he is not.

The US car industry can not be allowed to die and needs to be saved and this bankruptcy threat is just a measure to force the unions and bondholders to make some more concessions rather deep ones as they will look unpatriotic if they don't. Mr Wagoner does not need to make concessions about his pensions that's how the game is played in modern capitalism (Selected socialism).

Excerpt


GM’s Wagoner May Receive $20.2 Million in Pensions (Update1)

By Jeff Green

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner may be eligible for pensions valued at $20.2 million as of the end of 2008, according to a regulatory filing. He isn’t eligible for severance pay.

The pensions under two retirement plans include a $68,900 yearly amount and five annual payments of $4.5 million, according to the Detroit-based company’s annual report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 5.

“Mr. Wagoner has worked for GM for nearly 32 years, and would be entitled to certain vested awards, pension and other post-retirement benefits,” company spokeswoman Renee Rashid- Merem said, referring to the annual regulatory filing. “However, specifics on any compensation entitled to or actually paid to Mr. Wagoner are still being reviewed.”

GM doesn’t have an employment agreement with Wagoner, 56, that would provide him with any special additional benefits for his departure, she said.

Wagoner, CEO since June 2000, was asked to leave GM as part of the automaker’s restructuring, which President Barack Obama today said did not go far enough.

GM fell 90 cents, or 25 percent, to $2.72 at 2:42 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

GM had said it would shed 47,000 jobs globally in 2009 and plans to close five assembly plants. Executives said the automaker will focus on four U.S. brands, down from eight, and eliminate thousands of dealers.

A former Duke University freshman basketball player and Harvard University MBA, Wagoner joined GM in 1977 in the treasurer’s office. He ran GM’s operations in Brazil and served as chief financial officer over the course of his career.