Loeffler Got Lucrative 9 Million Dollar Parting Gift From Public Company en Route to the Senate

[Celerity]

The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, which her husband runs, changed compensation terms to give Kelly Loeffler, a top executive, awards worth millions of dollars as she left for Congress.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/us/politics/kelly-loeffler-compensation.html



When Kelly Loeffler accepted an appointment to be a United States senator from Georgia, she left behind a high-paying job as a senior executive at the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange. But on her way to Washington, her old employer gave her a lucrative parting gift. Ms. Loeffler, who was appointed to the Senate in December and is now in a competitive race to hold her seat, appears to have received stock and other awards worth more than $9 million from the company, Intercontinental Exchange, according to a review of securities filings by The New York Times, Ms. Loeffler’s financial disclosure form and interviews with compensation and accounting experts. That was on top of her 2019 salary and bonus of about $3.5 million.

The additional compensation came in the form of shares, stock options and other instruments that Ms. Loeffler had previously been granted but was poised to forfeit by leaving the company. Intercontinental Exchange altered the terms of the awards, allowing her to keep them. The largest component — which the company had previously valued at about $7.8 million — was a stake in an Intercontinental Exchange subsidiary that Ms. Loeffler had been running. “It looks, feels and has the sweet aroma of a pure windfall,” said Brian T. Foley, the managing director of Brian Foley & Company, an executive compensation consulting firm in White Plains, N.Y.

The generous dispensations are not illegal or against any congressional rule, but they are certain to feed questions about how the Senate’s newest and wealthiest member has handled her finances, an issue that has emerged as a potential risk in her campaign. They add an important asterisk to Ms. Loeffler’s frequent boasts that she sacrificed huge sums of money to serve her state. They are also notable in part because she is married to Intercontinental Exchange’s chief executive, Jeffrey C. Sprecher. Ms. Loeffler’s allies defended the compensation package, saying there was nothing inappropriate in the arrangement.

“Kelly left millions in equity compensation behind to serve in public office to protect freedom, conservative values and economic opportunity for all Georgians,” said Stephen Lawson, a spokesman for Ms. Loeffler. “The obsession of the liberal media and career politicians with her success shows their bias against private sector opportunity in favor of big government.” Josh King, a spokesman for Intercontinental Exchange, said the awards to Ms. Loeffler reflected what he said was her instrumental, long-term role at the company. “We admire Kelly’s decision to serve her country in the U.S. Senate and did not want to discourage that willingness to serve,” Mr. King said in a statement.

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[ecstatic]

1. Grifting POS. Nt

[napi21]

2. That's pretty std. for an executive at a big $$ corp. Look at what she was making in thay job!

I live in Ga. & I'm not voting for her, but I think you're being unfair to her just because she made a lot of $$.

[mr_lebowski]

3. C'mon guys ... so the lady needed a little walking-around money ... stop hating (nt)

[TeamPooka]

4. Have to admire a Senator that stays bought once the check clears

[abqtommy]

5. My eyes and mind were drawn to the use of the words "conservative values" in the first

sentence of the last paragraph as if "conservative values" are a good thing...