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This management came in to save Sears from bankruptcy a while ago and invested millions in a failing company. Even with this investment, the huge pensions previ

This management came in to save Sears from bankruptcy a while ago and invested millions in a failing company. Even with this investment, the huge pensions previously negotiated by labor imposed an enormous financial burden on Sears that eventually proved insurmountable. Labor may be getting stiffed now, but they’re also very much to blame for Sears failing.

charlesism 8y ago
huge pensions Interesting. Out of curiosity, do you know how large the pensions were, per employee?
- PatentlyDC123 8y ago
  Perhaps "huge pensions" was not the best choice of words. I was referring to the size of the pension funds in the aggregate and their growth over time rather than per employee. The CEO (who invested millions in Sears before and after leaving his hedgefund [0]) stated that $4.5 billion was contributed to the pension funds since 2005. See [1]. However, even then, the pension funds are underfunded by $1.5 billion. See [2]. To be clear, I don't place all blame for the bankruptcy on the pension obligations; I just think it is an important contributing factor should be mentioned in the conversation. Additionally, the bankruptcy will be interesting to watch for its comparison to GM back in 2009 (another company with a large pension obligation on its balance sheet at the time of bankruptcy). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lampert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lampert [1] https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-bankruptcy-pension-default-20181011-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-bankrup... [2] https://www.pbgc.gov/news/press/releases/pbgc-statement-on-sears-bankruptcy-filing https://www.pbgc.gov/news/press/releases/pbgc-statement-on-s...
  - charlesism 8y ago
    Cheers. Wish I could reply with some interesting insights. My main take away is that the state of the world leaves a lot to be desired :(

charlesism 8y ago

huge pensions Interesting. Out of curiosity, do you know how large the pensions were, per employee?

PatentlyDC123 8y ago
Perhaps "huge pensions" was not the best choice of words. I was referring to the size of the pension funds in the aggregate and their growth over time rather than per employee. The CEO (who invested millions in Sears before and after leaving his hedgefund [0]) stated that $4.5 billion was contributed to the pension funds since 2005. See [1]. However, even then, the pension funds are underfunded by $1.5 billion. See [2]. To be clear, I don't place all blame for the bankruptcy on the pension obligations; I just think it is an important contributing factor should be mentioned in the conversation. Additionally, the bankruptcy will be interesting to watch for its comparison to GM back in 2009 (another company with a large pension obligation on its balance sheet at the time of bankruptcy). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lampert https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Lampert [1] https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-bankruptcy-pension-default-20181011-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sears-bankrup... [2] https://www.pbgc.gov/news/press/releases/pbgc-statement-on-sears-bankruptcy-filing https://www.pbgc.gov/news/press/releases/pbgc-statement-on-s...
- charlesism 8y ago
  Cheers. Wish I could reply with some interesting insights. My main take away is that the state of the world leaves a lot to be desired :(