Goldman Sachs Offers Director-Pay Cut to End Investor Suit
- Outside directors to have pay slashed by as much as $130,000
- Investor challenged Wall Street bank’s pay plans in 2017 suit
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. agreed to cut pay for some board members to settle a shareholder lawsuit alleging the bank’s compensation plan was too generous.
It’s the second attempt by Goldman Sachs to settle the 2017 Delaware Chancery Court suit after a judge rejected its first offer to make corporate-governance changes related to pay plans.
Under the current offer, Goldman Sachs would limit the annual pay of non-employee directors to no more than $475,000 over the next three years and disclose the change to stockholders, according to court filings. The payment can be made in cash or restricted stock grants.
That plan would cut the pay of some outside directors by as much as $130,000, bringing them more in line with what other Wall Street banks pay non-employee board members, according to court filings. Among the directors affected would be former DuPont Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ellen Kullman, former Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust and ex-U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Jan Tighe.
Maeve DuVally, a Goldman Sachs spokeswoman, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposed settlement.