Sabia got $21M golden handshake from BCE
Published on Wed Apr 01 2009
Michael Sabia received a $21-million
golden handshake from BCE Inc. when he departed the telecom company last
summer, before accepting his controversial appointment as head of
Quebec's pension fund manager.
MONTREAL – Michael
Sabia received a $21-million golden handshake from BCE Inc. when he
departed the telecom company last summer, before accepting his
controversial appointment as head of Quebec's pension fund manager.
Sabia's package from BCE (TSX: BCE)
included severance equal to three years' salary and short-term
incentives exceeding $9 million, according to a regulatory filing of
BCE's proxy circular.
He also received
$1.25 million related to BCE's abandoned privatization attempt, $3.1
million incentive pay, $2.9 million in accelerated vesting of stock
options and $729,000 in salary until his departure July 11.
Since turning 55 in September, Sabia began to receive an annual pension of nearly $969,000.
Sabia has attempted
to quell concern about his recent appointment as president and chief
executive of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec by offering not
to accept a bonus for two years, a $235,000 annual pension and another
departure payment.
BCE chief executive
George Cope earned $4.6 million last year. He replaced Sabia as the
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and its partners attempted to close the
$52-billion transaction, which ultimately fell apart later in the year.
Included in Cope's
payment was a $2 million retention payment related to the privatization
effort and a $1.2 million incentive payment. His base salary was
$959,000. That amount increased to $1.25 million as of Dec. 31.
Meanwhile, board
member Jim Pattison plans not to seek re-appointment to the board at
BCE's May annual meeting. New nominees for the board include CAE Inc.
(TSX: CAE) president Robert Brown, along with Barry Allen and Paul Weiss.
