"I have had a great career at Anheuser-Busch," Mr. Ponturo, 55, said in a statement. "The timing was right to move on to the next thing and new adventures."
Great career. Right time. I guess so. According to the merger agreeement, by retiring Ponturo gave up possible "integration" bonuses he'd have received by sticking around. the amounts would have run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But as you can guess, he's did okay even walking away a little early.
Here are some of the benefits he will receive as a result of the merger:
Enhanced Severance Payment of $1,321,488 plus benefits for the next 24 months.
2008 Bonus of $1,035,000.
Supplemental Retirement Plan of $1,911,433.
And accelerated stock options worth about $14,603,865.
Catching up on my reading list after the election, I skimmed through the terms of the AB-InBev merger.
It's pretty dry, but on page 45 it livens up a bit. That's where the consulting agreement between InBev and Mr. Busch IV is outlined. At the merger, Busch gets a $10.35 million "lump sum cash payment" (sounds like the lottery). Then he gets a fee of "approximately" $120,000 a month (for the duration of the gig, December 31, 2013). Of course he gets administrative support, and every kind of insurance - medicial, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits.
In addition, for his consulting services, he gets personal security, complimentary tickets to AB sponsered events and income tax gross-up payment (extra money to pay for the taxes he'd have to payon his benefits, estimated to be $11.1 million).
But here's my favorite part, suppose his consultant isn't all that good. Not to worry, #4, "Mr. Busch IV will generally be indemnified by InBev from and against all claims arising from the performance of his duties as a consultant during the Consulting Period."
National Parks Conservation Association Urges "Caution" On Danforth Proposal
STATEMENT BY: Lynn McClure, Midwest Regional Director National Parks Conservation Association
“Visitors to the iconic Gateway Arch in St. Louis would benefit from improved services and a revitalized Museum of Westward Expansion. But the National Parks Conservation Association is concerned after reviewing the National Park Service’s preferred alternative in the General Management Plan for the Gateway Arch, and urges the agency to give thoughtful consideration to balancing the need for these improved services with preserving the integrity of the site’s National Historic Landmark designation.
“The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial grounds provide the pedestal for an icon of our country’s heritage. Designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen and Dan Kiley, one of America’s most prominent modern landscape architects, this majestic site is protected by the National Historic Landmark designation—something bestowed on less than a third of all properties in the National Park System. This important designation cannot be tossed aside every time there is local pressure to book hotel rooms. If we do, what national park is next in line for inappropriate development?
“Commercial development and historic preservation are compatible, and surely, with additional public input and a responsible approach to a design competition, a solution can be found that would locate new attractions nearby and on a site that doesn’t mar the significance of the Gateway Arch itself.”
A few minutes ago, I spoke with InBev CEO Carlos Brito about his company’s proposed $46.3 billion takeover bid of Anheuser-Busch. Our conversation was cordial and clear.
I told Mr. Brito that I am currently opposed to the sale of Anheuser-Busch to his company for several reasons...
"A-B is one of the largest and most important corporate citizens of the 5th Senatorial District. Its generosity in the community, not to mention the thousands of jobs it provides in our city, is something we cannot allow to be put in jeopardy -- not without a fight. As the next senator from the 5th, I am working with other state leaders to exhaust all options to keep A-B an American-owned and St. Louis-based company."
http://www.saveab.com/ sent this press release touting its 10,000th signature, saying it's sent letters to the senators and thanking Mayor Slay for signing.
After a long day of debate and nearly a dozen amendments offered, a scaled back version - $240 million from the original $880 - the mega-projects tax credit bill passes the senate by a vote of 24-8.
WSJ: Wachovia Records Loss, Cut Dividend, Seeks Capital
This morning the Wall Street Journal reports that Wachovia reported a $350 million loss this quarter and cut its dividend as a result. But just last weekend they reported that help was on the way:
Wachovia could announce as soon as Monday that it is getting a capital infusion of several billion dollars from outside investors, according to people familiar with the matter. Final terms of the deal were being hammered out Sunday night, but it appeared likely that the fifth-largest U.S. bank in stock-market value would receive $6 billion to $7 billion. In return, the investor group would get shares priced at roughly $23 to $24 apiece -- a 15% discount to Wachovia's share price Friday.
I would love to be a fly on the wall at the rumored sit-down tomorrow to settle the nascent boycott of the City of St. Louis.
According to the rumor, representatives from Civic Progress and the Regional Business Council will be meeting with leaders of the proposed economic boycott to explore remedies to defuse the situation. Also among the expected attendees are: activist Eric Vickers, Rep. Jamilah Nasheed and former mayor Vince Schoemehl.
UPDATE: A second source indicates other attendees will include Jim Buford and John Moten.
McCaskill: MO Tougher on Underage IDs than Feds on Illegal IDs
From Washington Post: "I know what it takes to get a criminal case," said Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a former state prosecutor and member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. ". . . Why is it that hundreds of bar owners can be sanctioned in Missouri every year for letting somebody with a fake ID have a beer, but we can't manage to sanction hundreds of employers for letting people use fake identities to obtain a job?"
Speaker-elect Ron Richard has an "intimate dinner" last night meeting with about a dozen St. Louis County Republican leaders, lobbyists and businessmen.
Already looking forward to the post-Jetton Republican House, they were getting to know Richard who has been an enthusiastic supporter for economic development.
Dec. 2, 2007 -- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch continues to publish misleading statistics about MetroLink, as does the St. Louis Business Journal and other media outlets. It doesn't seem to bother them that their reporting is wildly inaccurate or misleading.
Just recently, a Post article claimed about 75,000 people ride MetroLink in addition to about 115,000 that ride Metro buses. This isn't even close to being true.
A story in the June 14, 2007 Post-Dispatch, about U. S. Census Bureau statistics, said only 29,451 people in the St. Louis area use public transit to get to their jobs. Adjacent counties in Illinois are included in the statistics. When students, shoppers, etc. are figured in, the number is probably around 40,000. Yet the Post is claiming nearly 200,000 people use public transit ever day in this area.
A further look at census bureau statistics shows only 8,637 residents commute to work in St. Louis County using public transit. In St. Louis city, the number is 14,639.
On Friday morning, MetroLink passengers at the Shrewsbury station were observed during a 45-minute period to get an idea of the latest passenger traffic. Previous observations disclosed that MetroLink trains, each of which seats 144 passengers, were only sparsely filled. That continues to be the case.
These were the counts on Friday:
Metro Shrewsbury Station Passenger Counts for Arrivals and Departures on MetroLink Trains November 30, 2007
Where are those mobs of people that are supposed to be using MetroLink? As these figures show, Metro has hardly been packing them in with its new line. But according to the Post-Dispatch and Metro's press releases, the Cross County line is hugely successful -- ridership is said to be years ahead of projections.
Just recently, the Belleville News Democrat and the St. Louis Business Journal got especially carried away. They reported that 1.5 million new passengers were riding MetroLink between July 1 and Sept. 30 of this year, compared to last year. For this to be true, almost everyone in town would have to be riding the light rail system.
From the mayor's website:For a little while now, Summer Bay has been quietly moving its employees from locations all over the country to 100 N. Tucker, a building formerly owned by AT&T and now owned by Mr. Scott. Summer Bay now has more than 100 employees located on Tucker and plans to grow its downtown St. Louis presence to 300 employees over the next year. Many of these Summer Bay employees are from (or have moved to) the City, and the company is finding its downtown location to be very useful in attracting new employees who can benefit from its accessibility.
This might be hidden away in the some unenforced ordinance somewhere, but has anyone heard about needing a business license to rent your own properties. The city has come at me out of the blue on this saying I need to pay $200 a year because I don't live in a building I am renting. The say that is tantamount to running a property management business. But this is MY property.
When calling the city for more information they admitted that this hasn't been enforced for years, but that they are looking for new revenue streams. They actually said that they are tracking down landowners they can find, but that those that are hidden away through LLC's and such will pretty much be ignored. What kind of system is that?
And when I asked for an ordinance number to actually verify that this wasn't totally bogus, nobody was able to produce it. I was transferred from one phone to another for 15 minutes and finally someone said that they would call me back today. This is insane. I'm an avid supporter of the city, but I think that through income and property taxes, occupancy inspection and building permits, the city is already taking enough money from me and my building.
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I'm not too surprised. I'm actually more surprised that the city has never done this before. I mean, after all, you are collecting income as a business by renting the property. Any actual registered business they should already be aware of through the state, but individual landlords operating as sole proprietorships aren't as easy to track down.
Legally, you are operating a busines, so they do have a right to require you to have a business license (I don't remember seeing it as exempt from licenses last time I looked). Although, I still have a problem with the license fees the city charges...
The first was adopted. It strengthened the language requiring the Board of Aldermen to approve the deveopment. Instead of the vague "municipal authority," it now says the "governing body of the municipality."
The second amendment failed. It would have reduced the size and scope of the project bringing the development area down to 30 acres and minimum amount to qualify for the credits to two acres.
The third amendment failed. It would have mandated three public meeting with reasonable prior notice.
Below please find a reminder about tomorrow's tour of the controversial McKee properties in north St. Louis sponsored by Alderwoman April Ford-Griffin, Alderwoman Marlene Davis, Rep. Jamilah Nasheed and myself. Interestingly enough, announcing the tour has touched off a flurry of activity. Today City trucks arrived at the 29xx block of Montgomery and commenced to mow, trim, and board up windows and doors at a mighty rate. Interesting timing......
Oxford, Nasheed Invite Legislators to Tour North City
Reps. Jeanette Mott Oxford and Jamilah Nasheed have offered an invitation to their fellow St. Louis representatives to tour the area that would impacted by the "McKee" tax credit proposal in the Governor's economic development bill.
