University of Delaware
After C.E.O. Compensation Flap, Johnson Was a 'Strange' Choice For Obama
According to one prominent experty on corporate governance, Barack Obama's campaign was wise to accept the resignation of James Johnson, but the selection of Johnson to lead Obama's vice presidential selection committee in the first place remains a baffling one.
"It's a judgment issue," said Charles Elson, head of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. "Why would you pick him to begin with? I knew about him. I knew his history. And if it suddenly came to my mind, why wouldn't it come to [Obama's]?"
Johnson headed the compensation committee at the Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group, which awarded more than $1.4 billion in stock options to its chief executive before he was forced to return nearly $620 million of that money as a result of a settlement with federal regulators and shareholders. That case, among others, led Obama to introduce legislation in the Senate to give shareholders a greater say on the compensation packages of departing C.E.O.s. Obama's leading role on that legislation was what made Johnson's selection so jarring. read more »
