The $60 million gift
Leonard Abess
When Leonard Abess sold a majority stake in Miami-based City National Bank last fall, he took $60 million of that money as bonuses to 399 current bank employees and 72 former employees. He didn’t notify the media, or call attention to it in any way. And while he was mentioned in President Obama’s inauguration speech and was ABC News Person of the Week, these things were not done at his instigation. In fact, he wasn’t even on site when the money was given out. He decided to share the wealth, he said, as a way to reward the people who had helped make the bank successful.
An interview with Abess by Knowledge @ Wharton:
We have never had a layoff. We have paid a bonus to every employee, every year. We have never raised the cost of insurance. Today, the employee’s cost is the same as it was 20 years ago…. I tell young CEOs, that before you cut anybody’s compensation, before you fire anybody for economic reasons, you deal with yourself. Your perks go, your bonus goes, your salary goes. I am very surprised when I see huge amounts of money that go to the people at the top [even] as there are massive layoffs, especially when they accept government money.
Don Mecoy
Business Writer
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