Earlier this month, we learned that the recently bankrupt VICE is not paying bills and has been unable to pay laid-off staff and freelancers for months. But guess what? It had no problem mustering the money to pay execs moments before going belly up. Yeah, that’s right. A day after slashing more than 100 jobs and going bankrupt in May, Vice doled out more than $1 million in performance-related bonuses to its C-suite, which already commanded salaries between 6 and $800,000 a year.
We’re seeing this seemingly self-dealing type of behavior from a number of companies nowadays, where those in positions of power go for a cash grab of some kind, knowing that the organization is going under. Earlier this year, it was Silicon Valley Bank, where the CEO, who made roughly $9.9 million last year, unloaded his stock just weeks before the tech-heavy bank went bust. The CEO of Signature Bank did the exact same thing. These people were in positions to know that their companies were not going to survive. And what did they do? They used that knowledge to financially benefit before the news broke.
In 2021, the Security and Exchange Commission — yeah, the SEC — well, it said it was launching an effort really to close this kind of loophole, to crack down on this insider trading type of behavior, as it concerns opportunistic stock sales before bad news hits.
But so much more must be done. In addition to beefing up SEC laws — and the government must implement measures that authorize the feds to hold executives, and any type of leadership civilly, and I would also argue criminally, accountable for taking these big paydays and bonuses, knowing that they’re on the verge of bankruptcy. It’s a form of fraud as far as I’m concerned. These leaders, they took oaths to do what was in the company’s best interest — to lead, not to fill their coffers before D-Day. Unionizing will not stop this form of corporate greed. VICE had a union. Their execs easily pocketed what little money was left in the 24 hours after that mass round of layoffs. We need far more, we need laws, laws that regard such behavior as a type of self-dealing in the corporate context. There has to be something out there so that they can empower employees and shareholders to sue executives in their personal capacity for their pre-perilous payday.
Why should they get to use their position and knowledge to come up while the employees are wondering whether they can make their rent, pay their mortgage, feed their families due to layoffs, cutbacks and all else, after these executives ran it to the ground? There has to be a private right of action. We the people who invest our time, our energy, blood, sweat, vision into an organization should not be asked out because the execs opt to CYA. These ideas of regulation and criminalization are not crazy. And I know I’m not asking for too much. To the extent that you may think that your position is that these corporations, their leaders should go unscathed and be able to pocket cash, ask yourself why is that? Why is it that we think that certain people at organizations should be able to use their knowledge to make themselves wealthy while everyone else suffers and struggles.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s kind of that whole capitalism-corporatism thing. And that’s kind of the reason why we’re in this not so great situation as a society where we have poverty, we have class divide, we have all sorts of problems. We need to take a different look at how our life, our world, our government is structured, and actually implement some changes that would actually help us all as one people come up and rise, as opposed to allowing those execs to get their comeups off of the back of the people. But then again, maybe those are just my thoughts. In the meantime, I am not going to be investing in any companies that have no parameters put in place to ensure that their leaders don’t get big paydays at the end of the day, because damn sure, no, it ain’t right.
Adrienne Lawrence
Legal analyst, law professor & award-winning author
Commentary
Our commentary partners will help you reach your own conclusions on complex topics.
Is the US looking for a war?
7 hrs ago
Peter Zeihan
How future generations could shift US support for Israel
Yesterday
Peter Zeihan
Why election of European Commission president is so important
Wednesday
Peter Zeihan
‘Both completely corrupt’: What Americans think of Biden, Trump
Tuesday
Dr. Frank Luntz
Stop corporate execs from cashing out before bankruptcy
Adrienne Lawrence
Legal analyst, law professor & award-winning author
By Straight Arrow News
In the past three years, companies including Chesapeake Energy, Hertz, VICE Media, and Silicon Valley Bank have all filed for bankruptcy. But that’s not all they have in common. Their top executives either cashed out company stock or received millions of dollars in bonuses soon before their companies filed. And apparently, it’s all legal.
Straight Arrow News contributor Adrienne Lawrence thinks it’s time to make new laws that prevent top executives from taking big paydays when their companies are on the edge of bankruptcy. She says corporations are acting fraudulently and failing to protect employees.
But so much more must be done. In addition to beefing up SEC laws, the government must implement measures that authorize the feds to hold executives and any type of leadership civilly — and I would also argue criminally — accountable for taking these big paydays and bonuses, knowing that they’re on the verge of bankruptcy. It’s a form of fraud as far as I’m concerned.
These leaders, they took oaths to do what was in the company’s best interest — to lead, not to fill their coffers before D-Day. Unionizing will not stop this form of corporate greed. VICE had a union. Their execs easily pocketed what little money was left in the 24 hours after that mass round of layoffs.
We need far more, we need laws, laws that regard such behavior as a type of self-dealing in the corporate context. There has to be something out there so that they can empower employees and shareholders to sue executives in their personal capacity for their pre-perilous payday.
Earlier this month, we learned that the recently bankrupt VICE is not paying bills and has been unable to pay laid-off staff and freelancers for months. But guess what? It had no problem mustering the money to pay execs moments before going belly up. Yeah, that’s right. A day after slashing more than 100 jobs and going bankrupt in May, Vice doled out more than $1 million in performance-related bonuses to its C-suite, which already commanded salaries between 6 and $800,000 a year.
We’re seeing this seemingly self-dealing type of behavior from a number of companies nowadays, where those in positions of power go for a cash grab of some kind, knowing that the organization is going under. Earlier this year, it was Silicon Valley Bank, where the CEO, who made roughly $9.9 million last year, unloaded his stock just weeks before the tech-heavy bank went bust. The CEO of Signature Bank did the exact same thing. These people were in positions to know that their companies were not going to survive. And what did they do? They used that knowledge to financially benefit before the news broke.
In 2021, the Security and Exchange Commission — yeah, the SEC — well, it said it was launching an effort really to close this kind of loophole, to crack down on this insider trading type of behavior, as it concerns opportunistic stock sales before bad news hits.
But so much more must be done. In addition to beefing up SEC laws — and the government must implement measures that authorize the feds to hold executives, and any type of leadership civilly, and I would also argue criminally, accountable for taking these big paydays and bonuses, knowing that they’re on the verge of bankruptcy. It’s a form of fraud as far as I’m concerned. These leaders, they took oaths to do what was in the company’s best interest — to lead, not to fill their coffers before D-Day. Unionizing will not stop this form of corporate greed. VICE had a union. Their execs easily pocketed what little money was left in the 24 hours after that mass round of layoffs. We need far more, we need laws, laws that regard such behavior as a type of self-dealing in the corporate context. There has to be something out there so that they can empower employees and shareholders to sue executives in their personal capacity for their pre-perilous payday.
Why should they get to use their position and knowledge to come up while the employees are wondering whether they can make their rent, pay their mortgage, feed their families due to layoffs, cutbacks and all else, after these executives ran it to the ground? There has to be a private right of action. We the people who invest our time, our energy, blood, sweat, vision into an organization should not be asked out because the execs opt to CYA. These ideas of regulation and criminalization are not crazy. And I know I’m not asking for too much. To the extent that you may think that your position is that these corporations, their leaders should go unscathed and be able to pocket cash, ask yourself why is that? Why is it that we think that certain people at organizations should be able to use their knowledge to make themselves wealthy while everyone else suffers and struggles.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s kind of that whole capitalism-corporatism thing. And that’s kind of the reason why we’re in this not so great situation as a society where we have poverty, we have class divide, we have all sorts of problems. We need to take a different look at how our life, our world, our government is structured, and actually implement some changes that would actually help us all as one people come up and rise, as opposed to allowing those execs to get their comeups off of the back of the people. But then again, maybe those are just my thoughts. In the meantime, I am not going to be investing in any companies that have no parameters put in place to ensure that their leaders don’t get big paydays at the end of the day, because damn sure, no, it ain’t right.
Trump-Vance ticket will implement nationwide abortion ban
Donald Trump recently accepted the Republican nomination for president and named Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his running mate. Vance has previously advocated for strict anti-abortion laws, in sharp contrast to Kamala Harris, the leading Democratic candidate, who went on a nationwide tour to mobilize pro-choice voters. Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News…
Wednesday
End of Chevron is an open invite for corporate corruption
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned 40 years of “Chevron deference” in a landmark ruling that experts say will cause a “legal earthquake.” The 6-3 conservative opinion upends a long tradition of relying on neutral expertise to interpret and execute laws and regulations. Broadly speaking, the ruling empowers judges and corporations at the…
Jul 17
American democracy cannot survive if Trump wins
Public alarm over the chances of democracy surviving in America has reached a new high-water mark in the wake of the Supreme Court’s July 1 ruling in Trump v. United States, where the court expanded presidential powers for all current and future U.S. presidents. Among other things, the court may have granted U.S. presidents the…
Jul 10
Talk to your kids about sextortion
The FBI is warning Americans of a growing threat called sextortion, where online predators pose as young, single individuals to lure their victims, primarily single teenage boys, into a blackmail trap. After soliciting sexual photos or videos of the victim, the predator threatens to release the images or videos unless the victim sends money and/or…
Jul 3
Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law proves Gov. Landry is corrupt
On June 20, GOP Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana signed into law a new bill that requires all public Louisiana school and university classrooms to display a poster-sized printout of the Bible’s Ten Commandments. The law violates existing legal precedents regarding the First Amendment and is expected to be challenged in the Supreme Court, although…
Jun 26
Underreported stories from each side
Group accuses Pa. teachers union of illegally using money to back Shapiro’s 2022 campaign
8 sources | 0% from the left
Getty Images
Some House Republicans slam Vance as Trump’s VP pick: ‘The worst choice’
8 sources | 0% from the right
Reuters
Latest Stories
Congress still trying to figure out how to reduce wasteful military spending
Watch 2:29
2 hrs ago
US Navy, Air Force making waves with new weapons at RIMPAC
Watch 6:03
2 hrs ago
Israeli PM Netanyahu meets with Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Watch 2:54
2 hrs ago
Growing US nuclear power resurgence reaches the nation’s heartland
Watch 1:19
2 hrs ago
Beer from the sun, other solar thermal projects get government funding
Watch 2:04
3 hrs ago
Popular Opinions
In addition to the facts, we believe it’s vital to hear perspectives from all sides of the political spectrum.
Trump has an excellent opportunity with Black voters
8 hrs ago
Star Parker
Don’t fall for GOP’s cheap racist attacks on Kamala Harris
9 hrs ago
Dr. Rashad Richey
Americans must reject Trump to defend our democracy
Yesterday
Jordan Reid
Why all the changes in European parliamentary governments?
Wednesday
Newt Gingrich