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Retail Chief John Browett Receives First Disbursement of Signing Bonus Apple Stock
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Buying a Mac is very much like making love to a beautiful woman. Admire the gorgeous lines, the slender body, the elegant looks and sigh with a rye smile at how much it's going to cost you in the end.
Equal Compensation.....
How much of that money should actually go to the poor, overworked assembly line workers at FoxConn, who no doubt deserve better pay for what they contribute to the bottom line of Apple products?! For some exec to just waltz in and be paid 63 million for what others would be happy with 1.5 million in anual salary, is just criminal in my book.
I'm sorry, but you cannot justify this kind of pay to anyone, no matter what company they work for. I've always said, if top exec's get outlandish compensation for what they do, everybody else from top to bottom of that company should also be compensated accordingly.
How much of that money should actually go to the poor, overworked assembly line workers at FoxConn, who no doubt deserve better pay for what they contribute to the bottom line of Apple products?! For some exec to just waltz in and be paid 63 million for what others would be happy with 1.5 million in anual salary, is just criminal in my book.
I'm sorry, but you cannot justify this kind of pay to anyone, no matter what company they work for. I've always said, if top exec's get outlandish compensation for what they do, everybody else from top to bottom of that company should also be compensated accordingly.
I don't know him personally or professionally so I will withhold judgment on his status within a cult of personality. However the three computer stores he was associated with before was a matter of residing over a dying sales process, dying industry, and dying product category. Even the current President of the USA can manage decline.
The only metric of import here is how he plugs into an existing successful business model and from what I read, he is charged with expanding to far more international locations.
There is a lot of detail involved in retail besides the operation of a running store. Just getting a store up and running is a hurculean task all in itself. I suspect that is his main focus at Apple.
Can't he just get his RSU's inside an IRA or something so he can defer the taxes? 40% to the tax man is wacky.
Rocketman
The only metric of import here is how he plugs into an existing successful business model and from what I read, he is charged with expanding to far more international locations.
There is a lot of detail involved in retail besides the operation of a running store. Just getting a store up and running is a hurculean task all in itself. I suspect that is his main focus at Apple.
Can't he just get his RSU's inside an IRA or something so he can defer the taxes? 40% to the tax man is wacky.
Rocketman
Executive Piracy.
What happens is, the board of directors hires someone like this, earmarking his contract with astronomical compensating stock options ( which is hard for the regular laymen to interpret the dollar equivalent ), in hopes that they too will in return be patted on the back by someone else, in their large ring of "aristocratic exclusive snob club". I just call it what it is - executive piracy; criminal in my book.
What happens is, the board of directors hires someone like this, earmarking his contract with astronomical compensating stock options ( which is hard for the regular laymen to interpret the dollar equivalent ), in hopes that they too will in return be patted on the back by someone else, in their large ring of "aristocratic exclusive snob club". I just call it what it is - executive piracy; criminal in my book.
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How much of that money should actually go to the poor, overworked assembly line workers at FoxConn, who no doubt deserve better pay for what they contribute to the bottom line of Apple products?! For some exec to just waltz in and be paid 63 million for what others would be happy with 1.5 million in anual salary, is just criminal in my book.
I'm sorry, but you cannot justify this kind of pay to anyone, no matter what company they work for. I've always said, if top exec's get outlandish compensation for what they do, everybody else from top to bottom of that company should also be compensated accordingly.
Agreed. I can understand an entrepreneur who creates jobs making a fortune, but an executive? They always go on about getting the very best talent, any talented executive would take a job like this for a tenth of the salary and do a fantastic job if the incentives are smartly designed. At the end, it's not like there's any risk involved for the executive. When you risk, by all means, win big.
Most retail employees were proud to have Ron Johnson as a boss
now i cannot say the same for Browett
i've never heard any single positive thing about him...
now i cannot say the same for Browett
i've never heard any single positive thing about him...
It seems much of this discussion could be traced back to the notion Steve Jobs and the Apple board chose Tim Cook for a reason, knowing his background and role in the company to date. Jobs is even quoted as saying Tim Cook is not a product guy.
We can argue (in hindsight) whether or not it was a good move, but it was certainly a move made for a clear reason, not out of pure ignorance.
We can argue (in hindsight) whether or not it was a good move, but it was certainly a move made for a clear reason, not out of pure ignorance.
$58 M for a bad pedigree
I felt compelled to log in to this site when I saw that man's face staring out in disbelief that he was even invited for an interview at Apple.
John Browett was one of the people running Dixons here in the UK.
That business was and remains a laughing stock within UK retail circles.
What really galls me is that I am paying top dollar for Apple products and I don't mind doing that if they are simply brilliant products. However I do not believe that I should be paying so much of my very hard earned cash to then have that money ($58m over 5 years for goodness sake!) paid to this nonentity who somehow blagged his way through an interview at Cupertino and is now in charge (shiver) of the whole retail chain across the world.
He has already left his greasy fingerprints all over his first Dixonite escapade at Apple and this will just be the first of a great many.
These are challenging times for Apple for all sorts of reasons and they need the best possible people leading them. This man is most certainly not one of them.
I do actually shiver when I recall my visits to Dixons / PC World et al in previous years. This man should have been sent back across the Atlantic in a rowing boat without an oar after his 2 minute interview with Cook and his team.
I predict he will not be claiming that $58m in 5 years time.
I felt compelled to log in to this site when I saw that man's face staring out in disbelief that he was even invited for an interview at Apple.
John Browett was one of the people running Dixons here in the UK.
That business was and remains a laughing stock within UK retail circles.
What really galls me is that I am paying top dollar for Apple products and I don't mind doing that if they are simply brilliant products. However I do not believe that I should be paying so much of my very hard earned cash to then have that money ($58m over 5 years for goodness sake!) paid to this nonentity who somehow blagged his way through an interview at Cupertino and is now in charge (shiver) of the whole retail chain across the world.
He has already left his greasy fingerprints all over his first Dixonite escapade at Apple and this will just be the first of a great many.
These are challenging times for Apple for all sorts of reasons and they need the best possible people leading them. This man is most certainly not one of them.
I do actually shiver when I recall my visits to Dixons / PC World et al in previous years. This man should have been sent back across the Atlantic in a rowing boat without an oar after his 2 minute interview with Cook and his team.
I predict he will not be claiming that $58m in 5 years time.
Disgusting. Just disgusting.
It's not just that he doesn't deserve the money for the terrible job he's done... it's that he is a woefully incompetent executive, has done nothing positive for the stores yet, and has demonstrated fireable offenses in his short time at Apple. Yet they reward him for the mess he made, and pressure him to stay on.
The Stores are falling apart. Fortunately, Apple's so big now that it really doesn't matter in the long run -- they're not going bankrupt or anything. They're just sliding.
I own shares, and Apple's been good to me. I just wish we (the shareholders) could force this clown out of the company and out of this country ASAP. You guys across the pond can keep Dixons!
(I wrote a letter to Tim Cook about Jim early on, but obviously that's not going to make a difference...)
It's not just that he doesn't deserve the money for the terrible job he's done... it's that he is a woefully incompetent executive, has done nothing positive for the stores yet, and has demonstrated fireable offenses in his short time at Apple. Yet they reward him for the mess he made, and pressure him to stay on.
The Stores are falling apart. Fortunately, Apple's so big now that it really doesn't matter in the long run -- they're not going bankrupt or anything. They're just sliding.
I own shares, and Apple's been good to me. I just wish we (the shareholders) could force this clown out of the company and out of this country ASAP. You guys across the pond can keep Dixons!
(I wrote a letter to Tim Cook about Jim early on, but obviously that's not going to make a difference...)
Argh!!
Jim? Who's Jim?
Disgusting. Just disgusting.
It's not just that he doesn't deserve the money for the terrible job he's done... it's that he is a woefully incompetent executive, has done nothing positive for the stores yet, and has demonstrated fireable offenses in his short time at Apple. Yet they reward him for the mess he made, and pressure him to stay on.
The Stores are falling apart. Fortunately, Apple's so big now that it really doesn't matter in the long run -- they're not going bankrupt or anything. They're just sliding.
I own shares, and Apple's been good to me. I just wish we (the shareholders) could force this clown out of the company and out of this country ASAP. You guys across the pond can keep Dixons!
(I wrote a letter to Tim Cook about Jim early on, but obviously that's not going to make a difference...)
Jim? Who's Jim?
That's the crappy part. But I wasn't "making things up", PC World, Curries and Dixons had mass layoffs of staff (several of my friends worked there when this happened), go into a store now, atypically it's excessively understaffed, and nobody goes in the stores anymore because you won't get served.
John Lewis
I have for years been a Mac fanatic. I live in the UK. My nearest Apple Store is a very short distance away at a shopping mall which also has John Lewis and Dixons. Dixons is just a laugh ... of course ignorant people will still buy their cameras, tellies and computers from them and pay for the after-market warranties from a demoralised and ignorant staff. The Apple Store is no longer the friendly place for buying over-priced but beautiful products.
There was a TV programme some time ago about the company John Lewis ... I may have the figures wrong but they make no difference to my point, John Lewis boss was shown the massive amounts earned by the CEOs of other companies; figures way in excess of what he earned. His reply? He responded by saying he had a very nice lifestyle indeed on his £500,000 salary and that it was enough. That's what the likes of Browett have forgotten. It is enough. They have gone way beyond what is enough. They are into greed ... money for the sake of money. And that's where Mr Cook has made a Big Mistake. He has hired a man who, despite all, has a very poor retail record and it is beginning to tell in Apple Retail.
I have for years been a Mac fanatic. I live in the UK. My nearest Apple Store is a very short distance away at a shopping mall which also has John Lewis and Dixons. Dixons is just a laugh ... of course ignorant people will still buy their cameras, tellies and computers from them and pay for the after-market warranties from a demoralised and ignorant staff. The Apple Store is no longer the friendly place for buying over-priced but beautiful products.
There was a TV programme some time ago about the company John Lewis ... I may have the figures wrong but they make no difference to my point, John Lewis boss was shown the massive amounts earned by the CEOs of other companies; figures way in excess of what he earned. His reply? He responded by saying he had a very nice lifestyle indeed on his £500,000 salary and that it was enough. That's what the likes of Browett have forgotten. It is enough. They have gone way beyond what is enough. They are into greed ... money for the sake of money. And that's where Mr Cook has made a Big Mistake. He has hired a man who, despite all, has a very poor retail record and it is beginning to tell in Apple Retail.
Having lived in the U.K., very well stated with regard to this matter. I was very disappointed in Browett's hiring. It is interesting to note since Browett joined Apple retail, many changes took effect under his direction that many retail employees and customers do not like (such as the new phone system implemented at Browett's request, it is much more difficult to speak with a retail specialist now).
I don't see this relationship benefitting Apple other than cutting costs at consumer expense. Might look good at first, but long term it will bite them.
As a shareholder you are not happy about him attempting to derive more profit from the stores, you are in the minority.
Let's not forget that as a company Apple is profit driven, yes they make great products and like any other company they attempt to charge the most the market can bare for them, they short cut warranties, etc. as long as the market will handle it.
With that said short term profit at the cost of customer satisfaction results in less profit long term and ultimately a failure.
Sure he understands capitalism... at least the 2012 version, and we will need to ask the folks making 99 cents an hour or maybe ask the people in America who lost those manufacturing jobs so this ass could get his millions just who is responsible for Apple's valuation.
58 million bucks is obscene, but gee, Apple is successful so suck on it huh? And where does it end? I'll tell you where it ends: with torches and piano wire.
No way, we don't want him back.
But seriously he is the sort of joker who will do the old slash and burn for a few years which reduces costs so the bean counters think he is great, he will then jump ship before the whole thing starts to fall apart.
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Being an "ex-partner" of John Lewis, let me tell you that the "partnership", IS NOT WHAT IT SEEMS.