Some ingredients in Martha Stewart’s proxy… | footnoted.com
In the past, Martha’s proxies and other filings have made for some pretty unforgettable reading. There was this post (about the company’s agreement to pay $2 million per year to use Martha’s various homes as the set for her TV show, plus thousands more to pay for expenses), or this one (about the $3 million retention bonus Martha got in May, 2009), as well as others that you can find by searching the ticker “MSO” in our archives.
So what hidden treasures did the proxy hold this year? Some of the interesting ones have already been reported by publications such as Crain’s (more than $606K for salaries paid to Martha’s daughter and sister-in-law; nearly $30K for Martha’s personal trainer; $200K for household expenses; and almost $56K for her weekend driver). But there were other interesting disclosures, as well.
I’d love to never think of Martha Stewart again. It’s myopic to lambast her in the spirit of schadenfreude for being so single-mindedly successful with only a few quasi-ethical stumbling blocks. It distracts from much bigger fish and far more odious dealings.
But she makes it so damn easy.
