No, no, no, listen, all of these people knew exactly what they were doing, and made great decisions. They must have done - why would they be CEOs and investors paid telephone number salaries otherwise? You'd have to live in a pretty crazy world for that to be the case!
For Carl Icahn, who had used the CEO’s compensation as a cause célèbre in his proxy battle, this was a chance to take a stand. He instructed the board not to pay the bonus and informed Antioco that he could take $2 million or nothing. When the dust cleared from the ensuing fur fight, Icahn was holding Antioco’s resignation and a contract requiring him to pay $24 million in severance.