Getting a jump on the followup story

Colin Barr of Fortune magazine followed Ken Lewis’s retirement announcement on Wednesday with a story about Lewis’s potential retirement pay.

It starts:

"Ken Lewis doesn't have a golden parachute, but he's all set for a comfortable landing -- unlike his long-suffering shareholders.
The Bank of America chief executive officer said Wednesday he'll step aside at year-end after eight years at the helm. Based on the company's most recent proxy statement, he will have $53 million in pension benefits waiting for him when he leaves."

Today’s Tip: Start thinking about the follow up story when you’re working on the big news story.

Other news outlets wrote about possible successors as well as the legal battles that lay ahead for Lewis and Bank of America.

By focusing on retirement income, Colin provided a unique perspective on the CEO’s departure. He found the data using proxy statements.

More:
Keep your eyes out for proxy statements, by Rosland Gammon

Proxy Digging, by Chris Roush

Finding stories in the fine print

Using documents available from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Del Jones of USA Today crafted a story about how public companies have increased spending on security for CEOs while cutting other costs.

Starbucks, which has laid off workers, closed stores and switched from whole to 2% milk to save pennies a gallon, bumped its spending to $511,079 last year on the personal and home security of CEO Howard Schultz. FedEx, which quit matching employee 401(k) contributions, spent $595,875 on the security of CEO Fred Smith. Walt Disney spent $645,368 for CEO Robert Iger; Occidental Petroleum spent $575,407 for Ray Irani; and McKesson spent $401,706 for John Hammergren.

Top execs usually get more death threats when layoffs and closures occur, the story says.

Today’s Tip: Keep your eyes out for proxy statements, also known as DEF 14A. These statements provide details about CEO compensation and benefits. You can see the latest filings at http://secwatch.com or http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

For instance, Sara Lee Corp. filed its proxy on Wednesday. Along with disclosing CEO Brenda Barnes’ total compensation for fiscal 2009 of $15.2 million, it also notes that the company has discontinued the use of its corporate jet.

A great watchdog of the footnotes in SEC documents is Michelle Leder, who shares what she finds on her blog at www.footnoted.org. Until earlier this year, she also did a blog for BusinessJournalism.org called Under the Magnifying Glass. She is the author of the 2003 book, Financial Fine Print: Uncovering a Company's True Value.