Prominent business people, executives and former executives in North America
Introduction
Executives in the News (EITN) is a site that provides information about current and former business personalities as well as up-and-coming business people who appear in media, both tradtional and social media.
Michael Sabia, former head of BCE and Nadir Mohamed, recently crowned CEO of Rogers had their compensation packages profiled in the Globe and Mail today. Michael Sabia, caught in a storm of controversy over his sudden appointment as chief of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, pocketed $21-million after stepping down as the head of BCE Inc. last summer.
Mr. Sabia was named chief of the Quebec pension fund manager last month. The speed of his appointment, only one week after the provincial government named Robert Tessier chairman, launched a flurry of criticism that Mr. Sabia had short-circuited the selection process as the favoured candidate of Quebec Premier Jean Charest.
In an effort to defuse the controversy, Mr. Sabia last week said he would give up his right to any bonuses in his first two years on the job, as well as a $235,000-a-year pension and any golden handshake on his departure.
Mr. Sabia's massive separation package from BCE includes severance equal to three years' salary, and short-term incentives amounting to more than $9-million, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. It also contains a $1.3-million payment related to BCE's privatization deal, which collapsed; $3.1-million of incentive pay; $2.9-million in accelerated vesting of stock options; and a base salary up to July 11 of $729,000. Mr. Sabia was ousted from the top job at the communications giant by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and its partners, which planned to buy BCE for $35-billion. As a condition of the deal, the buyers wanted Bell Canada executive George Cope to take the reins even before the deal closed. Although the leveraged buyout eventually fell through, Mr. Cope, president and chief executive officer of both BCE and Bell Canada since last July, has been implementing many of the changes the investment group had planned.
Mr. Cope received total compensation of $4.6-million in 2008, including a $2-million recognition and retention payment related to the privatization effort and a $1.2-million incentive payment. His base salary was $959,000.
Mr. Cope also received options for 790,000 BCE shares, bringing the total value of his unvested options to $12.8-million.
Bell Canada rival Rogers Communications Inc. has also provided details of its executive compensation for 2008. Company founder Ted Rogers, who died on Dec. 2, received total compensation of $21.5-million, of which $14.6-million represented the value of benefits payable to his wife, Loretta.
Nadir Mohamed, who was promoted to CEO this week, received total compensation last year of $6.5-million for serving as president and chief operating officer of the communications group. Salary comprised $853,900 of that amount, share-based awards $3.5-million, option-based rewards $1-million, and an annual incentive of $1.1-million.
Mr. Mohamed also holds vested options worth $5.8-million and unvested options worth $2.8-million.
Edward Rogers, the founder's son and early contender for the top job, had in-the-money options worth $34.6-million at the end of the year. His sister, Melinda, who serves as senior vice-president of strategy and development, held $5.9-million worth of in-the-money options.
Just read in the Globe and Mail that Nadir Mohamed was chosen as the next CEO of Rogers. In the running were just him and the late Ted Rogers' son, Edward Rogers, currently head of the Cable business. It's said that Mr. Rogers will take a vice-chairman role at the top, to balance the overwhelming power that Mr. Mohamed will wield, and will advise more on strategy and acquisitions, versus the day to day operational leadership.
Not sure this is the best plan, as I'm a big fan of the 'if it ain't broke...' theory. Nadir Mohamed's experience in the industry, and his love-affair with Bay street is all about stability and long term vision. If a Rogers is calling those shots and once again micro-managing Mohamed, the market may not see the kind of results they're expecting.
I surmise that all will be addressed within the week when Rogers makes the announcement and spells out to analysts what the various roles and responsibilities will be. They cannot afford speculation, so I anticipate a very detailed description and lots of hand holding for Bay Street.
The question of who should replace the late Ted Rogers as CEO of Rogers Communications Inc. has long been a thorny subject at Rogers headquarters in Toronto. The natural choice currently in the recently created office of the president, is Nadir Mohamed. Mohamed came to Rogers after working for BCTel and Telus, and was instrumental in the acquisition of Microcell in 2004, which made RCI the largest provider of mobile services in Canada.
Alek Krstajic, head of prospective wireless operator BMV Holdings, warns it would be a mistake to count out Rogers' son, Edward Rogers, who heads the cable unit. While he has high praise for Mohamed – "Nadir is the single best executive in telecom in this country" – he said he now believes that a key element to the cable company's success lies in the fact that all can be traced back to a single person.
"There was a family feel to Rogers and a strength to the brand that comes from understanding that there is a person behind it," said Krstajic. "So, if there were problems, there was a person's name on it and that person would solve the problem."
Ultimately though, Edward Rogers lacks the experience and clout of Nadir Mohamed, and would likely support a move of Mohamed into the corner office. Read Full Post...
After the amazing success of the iPhone 3G here in Canada, Nadir Mohamed, President of Rogers Communications Inc, has said that all other phone sales have virtually slammed on the brakes. To keep up with demand in Canada, Rogers plans to buy $150 million worth of the Apple products, and make them available in all available points of distribution. During a phone call to discuss the company's latest quarterly results, Rogers president Nadir Mohamed said sales of other phones were virtually non-existant the day the iPhone 3G was announced.
Furthermore, a week after the iPhone 3G launched in Canada, Rogers and Nokia had to drop the N95 8GB sticker price nearly in half (to $200 under contract) in an effort to help stimulate sales of other devices.
Mohamed said the company was actually surprised the iPhone 3G came to Canada when it did, telling Electronista, "We didn't anticipate that we would launch that device under any model this year."
Rogers says the up-front discount for the iPhone 3G for consumers is the largest in the company's history, but higher revenue is also expected as cellphone users sign on to data and voice plans.
Canadians looking to get an iPhone 3G should expect to pay about $100 per month to get a decent plan. Calls to Rogers show this amount will get you the following features:
• Data: The current promotion with Rogers (ending Aug. 31) gets you 6GB of data transfer per month, which is more than enough for every type of user ($30/month)
• Voice package: 250 minutes/month, free evenings & weekends (starting at 9 p.m.) and calling five of your "favourite" friends an unlimited number of times ($35/month)
• Extra: Visual voicemail, caller ID, WhoCalled and 2,500 text messages per month ($15/month)
When you add tax, system access fees and the 911 charge, you should expect to fork out about $98.81 per month. So from Rogers' perspective, this type of plan will earn the company about $3,600 per iPhone user over the three-year term.
Mohamed said Rogers is now buying $150 million worth of iPhones to keep up with demand, and it will buy more from Apple as necessary.
President and Chief Operating Officer - Rogers Communications Inc.
Mr. Mohamed joined Rogers Wireless in August of 2000 as President and Chief Operating Officer. In July 2001, Mr. Mohamed was promoted to President and CEO of Rogers Wireless Inc., and, under his leadership, Rogers Wireless saw 13 consecutive quarters of double digit network revenue growth, 14 consecutive quarters of double digit operating profit growth, and improved free cash flow from in excess of negative $800 million in 2001 to over $270 million positive in 2004. As well, during his tenure as CEO at Rogers Wireless, the Rogers Wireless stock price increased from $26.10 on July 1, 2001 to $54.56 at the end of 2004. In addition, Mr. Mohamed led Rogers Wireless through the acquisition of Microcell Telecommunications in November 2004, making Rogers Wireless the largest wireless carrier in Canada with more than 7.3 million customers from coast to coast.
In May 2005, Mr. Mohamed was promoted to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer of the Communications Division of Rogers. As President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Mohamed is responsible for the wireless, cable and telecom divisions, as a group representing approximately $9.1 billion in revenue and over $3.6 billion operating income.
For the nine months ending September 30, 2006, the Communications Group delivered 30% in revenue growth and 35% in operating income growth.
Mr. Mohamed is on the Board of Rogers Communications. Mr. Mohamed is also on the Board of Governors for Ryerson University and TD Bank Financial Group. 51 years old Nadir H. Mohamed, resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and has been a director of RCI and President and Chief Operating Officer, Communications Group since May 2005. Mr. Mohamed joined Rogers Wireless in August 2000 as President and Chief Operating Officer and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from July 2001 to May 2005. Prior to joining Rogers Wireless, Mr. Mohamed served as President and Chief Operating Officer of BC Tel Mobility from August 1997 to January 1999. Between February 1999 and August 2000, Mr. Mohamed was Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sales for Telus Communications Inc. Mr. Mohamed is a member of Ryerson University's Board of Governors. Mr. Mohamed holds an undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia and is a Chartered Accountant.
This website is mostly a showcase of other content, with editorials and opinions. If, by error or ommission, your copyrighted content appears on this site, please contact the owner, and we will remove it immediately. Thanks.
Mr. Sabia's massive separation package from BCE includes severance equal to three years' salary, and short-term incentives amounting to more than $9-million, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. It also contains a $1.3-million payment related to BCE's privatization deal, which collapsed; $3.1-million of incentive pay; $2.9-million in accelerated vesting of stock options; and a base salary up to July 11 of $729,000.
