GE Chairman refused yearly bonus for second time

For the second year, General Electric CEO and Chairman Jeffrey Immelt, had refused to take his bonus as GE continues to suffer from huge financial loss due to credit crisis. Immelt, 54 years old, earned last year a total of $9.89 million, up 6.5 per cent from 2008. The amount includes $1.8 million in stocks, $3.3 million in wages and $4.3 million in pension plans.

Immelt’s top deputies however did take their bonuses in 2009. Keith Sherin, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer, received last year a compensation of about $14 million and bonus amounting to $2.68 million. Meanwhile another chief executive, Michael Neal, took a $2.9 million bonus and a $15.2 million worth of compensation. Moreover, the company’s top energy head, John Krenecki, obtained compensation valued at $13.1 million and bonus amounting to $2.5 million during his first year as a vice chairman. Another GE boss, John Rice, received a total of $18.24 million in bonuses and compensation.

Immelt’s salary has not changed since 2005. His bonus in 2007 was valued at $5.8 million. Earlier, the company cancelled half of the stocks originally awarded to Immelt in 2005 because several of his targets were not met.

The CEO said that the company’s profit and revenue this year will be roughly flat, as GE is still recovering from recession. In 2009, Forbes ranked GE as the largest company in the world. The firm currently has 323,000 employees worldwide. GE has a set of global businesses, including infrastructure, media and finance.