Michael Pascoe writes:

The AGL takeover fight provides opportunity
for another Crikey list: CEOs who have
made many millions for doing nothing, merely taking over a top just ahead of a
takeover – and sometimes helping to
engineer it.

AGL’s about-to-be CEO Paul Anthony is set
to cop either $12 million or $24 million, depending on legal opinion, if Alinta
succeeds and decides it doesn’t want him. The higher amount depends on whether
he would be judged to qualify for the potential performance bonuses in his
generous contract, but the Terror thinks it might only be $11 million.

Anthony’s salary was already considered
rather ridiculously high in some quarters – and that’s when he faced the prospect of
having to actually do the job to get it. To be paid so much for nothing would
move the game to another level again.

The $24 million would put Anthony at the top
of the dollar value of the suggested list, but he would still have to share the
honours with Tom Park who was very nicely taken over and not wanted twice.

Park first received public notice as an
American Kraft executive during that company’s peanut butter extortion
problems. He had been Southcorp CEO for just four months when Rosemount grabbed
control – very fortunately for Park, very unfortunately for Southcorp. He then
had a not-too-dissimilar experience as CEO of Goodman Fielder when Burns Philp
bought it. Park made a fortune on both occasions.

He’s now CEO of PaperlinX which yesterday
reported a 73 per cent lower profit on 8 per cent lower sales. “It was clear this would be a tough half for us, and it was,” CEO
Mr Tom Park said. “The result is as expected in a depressed market environment where the
coincident factors of price, volume and the ability to recover input cost
increases in manufacturing have all tracked negatively.”

Some people just have all the luck. I wonder if PaperlinX could become a takeover target?