6 ms·

Andrew Mason's $378.36 Retirement Package

45 points by MarlonPro 14y ago

zafka 14y ago
Does anyone know where he came up with the magic number? "Mason's annual salary is $756.72"
- kmfrk 14y ago
  Six months is half that - i.e. the number in the title. The salary is disclosed in public filings.
  - jld 14y ago
    I think the question is about the genesis of the unusual annual salary of $756.72.
    - zafka 14y ago
      Yes, that was the question. Thought it might be a multiple of some arcane physical constant.
      - kmfrk 14y ago
        The answer will probably pop up on Quora soon - behind a registration wall no doubt. http://www.quora.com/Groupon http://www.quora.com/Groupon And yeah, it could be a number broken down per year, per month, per week, per day, per hour.
    - cdjk 14y ago
      The best I can come up with is $31.53 per pay period. That seems just as mysterious, however.
    - BigBlueSaw 14y ago
      $10.51, 6 times a month. The number is probably the exact amount to cover taxes on some other benefit, after taking out taxes on the salary itself.
  - mitchellhislop 14y ago
    I think he is referring to the annual number - why that exact amount?
- genkaos 14y ago
  Found this. 2nd comment from http://www.businessinsider.com/bizarre-groupon-ceo-andrew-masons-salary-is-just-75672-2012-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/bizarre-groupon-ceo-andrew-ma... It does seem like there's some reason. I wonder if its a tax convenience thing. It says he got $7186 in other comp and the footnote that includes the cost of parking, etc... But that's non-cash so if he only made $1, they wouldn't actually have enough in his paycheck each month to cover the taxes that need to be withheld (social security, etc...) so he's have to go to the trouble of writing a check each month. It's a good gesture as is; no reason to make it logistically inconvenient on him and the payroll staff. My guess is if you put this all in an accounting system, someone who makes $757 in cash and $7186 in non-cash income in Chicago IL has to withhold $756 in various taxes on their W-2.
- TDL 14y ago
  Below is a link to the DEF14A. All publicly traded companies have to file how their C-level executives & board members are compensated. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1490281/000104746912005013/a2209099zdef14a.htm#Nam http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1490281/0001047469120...
- firebones 14y ago
  My guess is that it is reportable life insurance compensation?
commiebob 14y ago
"Mason sold around $28 million worth of shares before Groupon's IPO in the fall of 2011." I think he'll be ok.
- capkutay 14y ago
  Not to mention he has close to $200 million worth of shares on paper.
- vellum 14y ago
  "Much of Mason's wealth comes from Groupon's stock. He owns 7 percent, or about 46 million shares, according to FactSet. Based on Thursday's closing price, that's worth more than $208 million." I think he'll be more than ok. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=173182095 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1731820...
  - fpp 14y ago
    as GRPN's share price went up almost 20% since his announcement - well I guess its fair to say he made about $40M (on paper) by leaving.
    - grey-area 14y ago
      As long as he sells soon and realises his gains, otherwise he might end up with nothing. The money isn't real till the shares are sold.
  - abat 14y ago
    The funny thing is he would have been much richer if he got fired much sooner. That would have given him an excuse to sell his stake before it tanked. Being the CEO meant he couldn't dump his stock.
- nikcub 14y ago
  the other perspective is that it isn't much for the sole founder of a company that Google offered $6B for, and was worth nearly $20B[0] in the public market. [0] Nov '12 peak was $20.15B http://knowledgetoday.wharton.upenn.edu/2011/11/groupon%E2%80%99s-ipo-scores-big-but-doubts-persist/ http://knowledgetoday.wharton.upenn.edu/2011/11/groupon%E2%8... same article also says that pre-IPO secondary market valuation reached $30B > But those developments hurt Groupon’s pre-IPO valuation, which fell from a peak of $30 billion to one institutional investor’s estimate of $8.7 billion.
chacham15 14y ago
> He can take comfort in knowing that, by leaving, he has already boosted his net worth. Thats so sad!!!!
- loeg 14y ago
  And yet, at the end of the day, he has $200-300 million. I don't feel too bad for the guy.
  - chacham15 14y ago
    I dont know about you, but a lot of the joy that I get out of building things has nothing to do with money.
josscrowcroft 14y ago
I call "linkbait"

45 points by MarlonPro 14y ago

zafka 14y ago

Does anyone know where he came up with the magic number? "Mason's annual salary is $756.72"

kmfrk 14y ago
Six months is half that - i.e. the number in the title. The salary is disclosed in public filings.
- jld 14y ago
  I think the question is about the genesis of the unusual annual salary of $756.72.
  - zafka 14y ago
    Yes, that was the question. Thought it might be a multiple of some arcane physical constant.
    - kmfrk 14y ago
      The answer will probably pop up on Quora soon - behind a registration wall no doubt. http://www.quora.com/Groupon http://www.quora.com/Groupon And yeah, it could be a number broken down per year, per month, per week, per day, per hour.
  - cdjk 14y ago
    The best I can come up with is $31.53 per pay period. That seems just as mysterious, however.
  - BigBlueSaw 14y ago
    $10.51, 6 times a month. The number is probably the exact amount to cover taxes on some other benefit, after taking out taxes on the salary itself.
- mitchellhislop 14y ago
  I think he is referring to the annual number - why that exact amount?
genkaos 14y ago
Found this. 2nd comment from http://www.businessinsider.com/bizarre-groupon-ceo-andrew-masons-salary-is-just-75672-2012-5 http://www.businessinsider.com/bizarre-groupon-ceo-andrew-ma... It does seem like there's some reason. I wonder if its a tax convenience thing. It says he got $7186 in other comp and the footnote that includes the cost of parking, etc... But that's non-cash so if he only made $1, they wouldn't actually have enough in his paycheck each month to cover the taxes that need to be withheld (social security, etc...) so he's have to go to the trouble of writing a check each month. It's a good gesture as is; no reason to make it logistically inconvenient on him and the payroll staff. My guess is if you put this all in an accounting system, someone who makes $757 in cash and $7186 in non-cash income in Chicago IL has to withhold $756 in various taxes on their W-2.
TDL 14y ago
Below is a link to the DEF14A. All publicly traded companies have to file how their C-level executives & board members are compensated. http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1490281/000104746912005013/a2209099zdef14a.htm#Nam http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1490281/0001047469120...
firebones 14y ago
My guess is that it is reportable life insurance compensation?

commiebob 14y ago

"Mason sold around $28 million worth of shares before Groupon's IPO in the fall of 2011." I think he'll be ok.

capkutay 14y ago
Not to mention he has close to $200 million worth of shares on paper.
vellum 14y ago
"Much of Mason's wealth comes from Groupon's stock. He owns 7 percent, or about 46 million shares, according to FactSet. Based on Thursday's closing price, that's worth more than $208 million." I think he'll be more than ok. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=173182095 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1731820...
- fpp 14y ago
  as GRPN's share price went up almost 20% since his announcement - well I guess its fair to say he made about $40M (on paper) by leaving.
  - grey-area 14y ago
    As long as he sells soon and realises his gains, otherwise he might end up with nothing. The money isn't real till the shares are sold.
- abat 14y ago
  The funny thing is he would have been much richer if he got fired much sooner. That would have given him an excuse to sell his stake before it tanked. Being the CEO meant he couldn't dump his stock.
nikcub 14y ago
the other perspective is that it isn't much for the sole founder of a company that Google offered $6B for, and was worth nearly $20B[0] in the public market. [0] Nov '12 peak was $20.15B http://knowledgetoday.wharton.upenn.edu/2011/11/groupon%E2%80%99s-ipo-scores-big-but-doubts-persist/ http://knowledgetoday.wharton.upenn.edu/2011/11/groupon%E2%8... same article also says that pre-IPO secondary market valuation reached $30B > But those developments hurt Groupon’s pre-IPO valuation, which fell from a peak of $30 billion to one institutional investor’s estimate of $8.7 billion.

chacham15 14y ago

> He can take comfort in knowing that, by leaving, he has already boosted his net worth. Thats so sad!!!!

loeg 14y ago
And yet, at the end of the day, he has $200-300 million. I don't feel too bad for the guy.
- chacham15 14y ago
  I dont know about you, but a lot of the joy that I get out of building things has nothing to do with money.

josscrowcroft 14y ago

I call "linkbait"