Blockbuster today announced a dispute with its CEO over the size of his bonus. The company’s reported profit for the four quarter of last year fell 28% because of high costs associated with its new service Total Access. But despite that, CEO John Antioco says the $2.3 million bonus he received on January 25 wasn’t enough. He claims his bonus should be $7.6 million based on performance goals. *Update* Blockbuster in advanced talks to buy Movielink, which would make it the first company to offer movies online, through the mail, and in-store.
True, the Total Access program has been gaining in popularity, which allows you to exchange DVDs received in the mail for in-store movie rentals. Blockbuster’s stock price has increased about 77% since the Total Access launch in November of 2006. And 500,000 new subscribers signed for the program during the fourth
quarter alone, bringing the total subscriber base to 2.2 million.
But while Blockbuster has found a temporary edge in the fight for online movie rentals, Netflix announced in January a new feature allowing you to immediately watch movies and TV shows on your computer for no additional cost (see my related article on why I think Netflix’s move is incredibly smart and will likely make online movie watching a reality).
Blockbuster is just beginning to catch up in the online rental industry Netflix pioneered, and Netflix
is already hard at work implementing the next big thing: online movie watching. And get this: Blockbuster has mentioned that it may cut back on the size of its stores’ movie catalog in order to get people to use the online service more. But I thought the advantage was the ability to go between the two, no? And rumors are already out that Blockbuster may get into the movie-download business (well, duh, the company will have to eventually, one step behind everyone else).
In any event, CEO Antioco is focused on the here and now. He said in a statement that Blockbuster expects a total of three million Total Access subscribers by the end of March. Whatever measurement ensures him his bonus, I suppose.
Corporate Greed -I appreciate that there are many honest & credible CEO’s out there, but those few hungry, greedy & “what’s in it for me” types just to such a dis-service to their employees, stockholders…. & themselves. SHAME on them!
Hmm, maybe he should try to get a job at Netflix where it seems the bonuses can keep up with him.
I think that it’s tough in a situation like this. We’re always talking about taking to the man and corporate greed, but I bet that he feels the same way. Blockbuster is just an entity that owes him money and they are screwing him over by not paying him what he deserves. What we really need to do (as they are doing right now) is change the rules of how CEO’s get bonuses and how much they can actually make. Once the laws are in place then they won’t feel entitled to be so greedy.
—
John
http://www.monomachines.com
I think that’s just absurd that this man is crying over this. At any rate THIS IS A BONUS!! Not his salary A BONUS!!… any way you cut it that is 2.3 million more than some unfortunate individual who has to sleep outside tonight has. besides the marketing strategy blockbuster is using is like bidding one dollar over the other person on the price is right…possibly the lamest perception ‘genius’ ever…hallelujah holla back! haha
Fuck that guy… I work for Blockbuster and the company just slashed our employee benefits. The only reason I still worked there was because of them!
They cut our discount on merch too because “20% cut into company revenue” … even though tax is 15%. So now we don’t even get the taxes off. Lame.
I think that if his deal entitles him to the bonus, he should have gotten it. It all depends upon what the agreement was between him and board of directors when he was hired. Their stock price is up, subscribers are up…and if those metrics were a part of his bonus, then he deserves every penny.
He was probably the jackass who pushed charging all those da*n late fees over the years so he figures he deserves a bigger cut, the di*k. They built a Hollywood Video directly across the street from the local ballbuster, so I don’t go to ballbuster any longer. How sweet it is to thumb my nose at them when I drive by on my way to Hollywood…
It’s sad that so many corporate executive’s lose touch with reality. 2.3 Million dollars………That is enough money to take care of his family and their future family’s and so on. It’s $92,000 per year in interest alone assuming the IRS takes half and his return on the rest is 8%. I’m sure he also has a few million in stock options and the like. It’s just greed and glutony at it’s worst. It’s no wonder hard working American’s have very little trust or money in the bank. 2.3 Million is a only a bonus……bonus on top of what else? It’s enough to make you sick! Better stop before I drop an F bomb.