IRS Releases Proposed Regulations on Executive Compensation for Tax-Exempt Organizations

The Internal Revenue Service and US Department of the Treasury have released proposed regulations governing the excise tax imposed by Internal Revenue Code Section 4960 on certain executive compensation paid to employees of tax-exempt organizations. These proposed regulations address several important questions about the applicability of Section 4960, including the treatment of employees of a taxable company who serve as officers or other volunteers of a related exempt organization, and the treatment of Section 457(f) plans. READ MORE

Executive Compensation: Moving Forward in a COVID-19 World

Employers reacted in a variety of ways to cope with the unprecedented financial impact of COVID-19.  Many of the initial executive compensation responses were designed as cost-cutting measures that would ease cash flow burdens and provide flexibility in uncertain times.  Now, as the “new normal” American workplace begins to take shape, employers must begin to shift their focus to whether their current executive compensation practices are designed with sufficient incentives to retain key employees and to spur recovery and sustained growth.  This post reviews the range of cost-cutting measures companies have enacted over the past few months, and provides guidance on executive compensation issues employers should consider as they move forward in a COVID-19 world. READ MORE

How To Fix “Busted” Incentive Plans

CEOs and senior leadership teams have been doing the heavy lifting of keeping employees safe and healthy, safeguarding liquidity and building future business plans. All the while, 52% of companies have seen revenues erode 15% to 50% or more, according to a recent Korn Ferry Pulse survey. One of the downstream casualties of the current crisis is corporate short-term incentive plans that have moved from “achievable” to “highly unlikely” payouts due to the crisis. READ MORE

Elon Musk reaches first Tesla compensation award worth nearly $800 million

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has unlocked the first of 12 possible stock option awards from the massive compensation plan he signed in 2018, and it’s worth nearly $800 million. The company disclosed on Thursday that Musk now has the option to buy 1.69 million of its shares because Tesla eclipsed $20 billion in total revenue over the last four quarters and a market capitalization of more than $100 billion — the first in a series of tandem milestones Tesla must hit for Musk to realize the full value of the plan. READ MORE

Bankruptcy pay evasion

In the early 2000s, large troubled firms developed a practice of paying retention bonuses to senior managers immediately after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Congress banned this practice in 2005 with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), citing the need to protect public confidence in the bankruptcy courts and fight “glaring abuses of the bankruptcy system by the executives of giant companies.”   READ MORE