Thursday, November 6, 2008
Kotz / Media Gannett CEO Craig Dubow Takes One for the Team (Kind Of)
Posted by Pete Kotz on Thu, Nov 6, 2008 at 5:49 AM
Craig Dubow, taking slightly more responsibility than the leading brand
Gannett, owner of The Tennessean and the nation's largest newspaper company, has long been considered the industry's Dark Knight. It had a reputation for lower wages, second-tier journalism, and a name for putting costs before quality. It was also the leader in pushing profit margins toward 30 percent, even while advertisers and readers were fleeing in legions.
It was, quite naturally, a business plan that couldn't sustain itself. Which is why the company is now hemorrhaging, seemingly stuck in a cycle of laying off thousands of workers at a time.
But at least CEO Craig Dubow is stepping up -- sort of. Earlier this week, he announced he was taking a $200,000 cut off his base salary of $1.2 million. Okay, so it's not like he'll miss it. His total compensation is $7.5 million, meaning he won't be forced to drink rail whiskey anytime soon.
Still, it's a lot better than most of his colleagues in the executive class, who've driven their companies to ruin only to expect continued bonuses for... driving their companies to ruin. And he certainly possesses a greater sense of sacrifice than James L. Shaub II, CEO of SouthEastWaffles.
He oversees 113 Waffle House restaurants in four states, including Tennessee. He also drove said chain to bankruptcy, but still believed he was entitled to a $20,000-a-month salary, apparently the going rate for really sucking at your job. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court didn't agree, a rejected the package last week.
Comments (3)
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That last link goes to the Gannett blog again. Here's a roundup of stories on the SouthEast Waffles case: http://tinyurl.com/SEWaffles.
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Posted by
Tom
on 11/06/2008 at 11:44 AM
I cannot believe that you are even seriously applauding that crook for this pitiful attempt to confuse the public regarding his outright rape of a company and its employees. People across the country working for Gannett are, right now, out of work, released after years of dedicated work, in order to make up for the mismanagement and lies told by him. Dubow is a criminal, a thief, a liar, and should be fired and tried for his illegal and unethical behavior!
Posted by
ron
on 01/01/2009 at 12:58 PM
