Corporate sponsors of 10 underfunded pension plans paid 40 executives a total of $350 million before dumping responsibility for the plans on the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
Analysts at the U.S. Government Accountability Office have published that finding in a report reported for Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
Analysts at the U.S. Government Accountability Office have published that finding in a report reported for Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.
The PBGC insures the pensions of 44 million workers and retirees who participate in about 29,000 pension plans.
The PBGC reported a deficit of about $30 billion in fiscal year 2009.
The GAO investigated reports of sponsors that starve pension plans while offering executives lavish pay by analyzing a list of the 1,246 underfunded plans that were terminated from 1999 to 2008.
The GAO investigators went through the list and selected public companies with large unfunded liabilities, large unfunded liabilities per participant, and a large number of plan participants.
The investigators then identified salaries, bonuses, and benefits provided to small groups of high-ranking executives at the companies during the 5 years leading up to the pension plan terminations.