IBM announced Tuesday a change to its compensation policy which will allow CEO Samuel Palmisano, and 300 top officials to make money on their stock options only if the company's shares rise by more than 10%. The second change restricts the same senior executives from buying market-priced stock options if they had already invested their own money. In response to the changes, which appear to be the first of their kind among US companies, IBM spokesman John Bukovinsky stated, "this is away of saying the executive doesn't get any benefit unless he or she makes the company grow". IBM shares gained 1.1% following the announcement.
Sources :Financial Times, 25/02/2004, Companies and Markets Section p31 by Dan Roberts; The Guardian, 25/02/2004, Main Section p19 by Notebook; International Herald Tribune, 25/02/2004, Main Section p20; The Wall Street Journal Europe, 25/02/2004, Main Section p4 by William A Bulkeley; La Tribune, 25/02/2004 p27