Whittle’s Golden Parachute

Retiring South Financial Group CEO Mack Whittle is receiving a compensation package worth $12 million as part of his decision to step down from the helm of his troubled company, according to reports published a month ago that somehow eluded the vast majority of South Carolina’s mainstream media.

From the Tampa Bay Business Journal, which incidentally is based in the neck of the woods where Whittle got caught up in all the bad loans that are now sinking his company:

South Financial disclosed terms of Whittle’s retirement in a filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission. According to the filing, Whittle will get a lump sum cash payment within 30 days of his retirement and all restricted stock units, stock options and other equity incentives will be vested. He also will receive welfare and fringe benefits coverage, including life insurance, for three years.

A settlement sheet included in the filing said Whittle would receive $4.1 million from a payment equal to three times the sum of his annual base salary and bonus, as well as about $500,000 for a bonus for the current fiscal year. His stock units are valued at $2.8 million.

Whittle’s retirement resulted solely from discussions between Whittle and the board, and were not precipitated by any material adverse undisclosed events, South Financial said in the filing.

Whittle – a former Chairman of the USC Board of Trustees and one of the most liberal leaders of South Carolina’s so-called “business community” – will no doubt face considerable heat for receiving such an exorbitant settlement.

After all, shareholders in his company have seen their stocks plummet from roughly $24 a year ago to just over $6 today.

Additionally, during his tenure at South Financial Group, Whittle has consistently rated as one of the nation’s most overpaid CEO’s, according to the research group SNL Financial.

Comments