“Say on Pay” hero at Aflac loses his crown
When Aflac provided its shareholders this year with an advisory vote on executive pay, Aflac CEO Dan Amos became an instant hero, poster child, Greek God, etc. to shareholder rights activisits everywhere. Until he spoke with The Wall Street Journal.
In an editorial published yesterday, Amos squashes “say on pay” fever with this quote:
“Frankly, I don’t care what anybody else does. What a CEO makes shouldn’t be important to anybody but the owners of the company. It’s not a public issue.”
As to why Alfac allowed the say on pay, Amos admits that it was an attempt to simply “calm down” criticism. Not an attempt to assist shareholders. Not an attempt to curtail out-of-control pay packages. Basically, appease the natives, but don’t share any food with them.
If you are a tad confused and still unsure as to what side of the fence Mr. Amos stands on, he leaves no doubt behind with this gem:
“When you look at the billions of dollars that a corporation brings in, it doesn’t really matter what the CEO makes.”
Yep, that’s what he said. Right there in print. Read it again. It doesn’t get much bolder than that.
