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Technology Stocks : Wind River going up, up, up! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Steve Hursey who wrote (3357)	7/2/1998 1:54:00 AM
From: Mark Brophy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10309

It's quite extraordinary. I don't believe this is unreasonable at all. For a corporate officer in a company doing as well as WIND it is not out of the ordinary. As Michael Greene pointed out in his comparison of software companies, the real earnings of Wind River after accounting for stock option grants are reduced more than any other company in his study. Who knows why he decided to do this. Have you checked the price of real estate in the Bay Area lately? The issue isn't whether or not he needs the money for a house. The Wind River receptionist also needs money, but that doesn't mean she should be paid millions! Instead, it's important to consider whether he has earned the money. Dick Kraber has no experience in the RTOS industry or even any software or technology company. Here's his biography: Mr. Kraber joined the Company in August 1995 and currently serves as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer. From 1991 to 1995, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Peerless Lighting, an industrial lighting products company. Prior to then, he was Chief Financial Officer for GardenAmerica and a consultant and engagement manager for McKinsey & Company. Mr. Kraber has a B.S. in mathematics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University. What could a lighting company executive have possibly done in the last 3 years to deserve millions of dollars of compensation? Here's what his peers are paid at 3 similar size companies cited in Greene's study: CFO (Company) Salary Bonus Options Ex. Price Dick Kraber (Wind River) ....... $153,750 $72,992 100,000 38,41 Bill Smith (Integrated Systems) $175,000 $50,000 80,000 10 Robert Riopel (Phoenix)......... $166,700 $68,250 35,000 12 Brian Turner (RadiSys).......... $143,875 $46,920 15,000 38 His salary/bonus is in line with his peers, but his option grants are out of whack. That's why the SEC now requires SFAS 123 disclosure.