Frank Stronach

[karlskorner]

The good, bad and ugly

[url]http://www.sunherald.com/business/story/55554.html

2 PAGES

[karlskorner]

http://www.sunherald.com/business/story/55554.html

[kenwoodallpromos]

"Stronach is chairman at Magna Entertainment, which was spun off from Magna International in 2000, ...filings from previous years show that his compensation totaled close to $400 million over the last 10 years.
...Magna Entertainment... has an accumulated deficit of $393.8 million as of March 31, SEC filings show."

What a coincidence!!LOL!!

[thelyingthief]

the more i read about stronach, the more i like the guy. imagine, single handedly doing what all the whiners on this board complain about, keeping tracks afloat, bringing racing into the current century! by god, that's a man.

i hope they shut down youbet in the year, and start getting a return for all the money they've spent on the future of the sport.

[cj]

It sounds to me like all he is doing is lining his own pockets at shareholder expense.

[Greyfox]

It sounds to me like all he is doing is lining his own pockets at shareholder expense.


You're not alone cj in having those thoughts. From business week comes these comments:
(bolding is my own).
"But there's another side to Magna's indomitable chairman, a side some investors don't like. Although Stronach owns just 5% of the common stock, he controls the business outright, with 67% of the Class B voting stock. Critics complain he is overpaid and uses his power to approve rental agreements and other real estate deals between Magna and companies he controls. ......
Other issues raise eyebrows. Canadian shareholders have long complained about Stronach's salary. Since 2002, he has paid himself $168 million, for an average of nearly $34 million a year, according to the company's annual reports. His pay amounts to 3% of profits in a typical year. "

He's also topped that up drawing salary from MEC.

The full article is at : http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_16/b4030058.htm

Of course none of this is new. A very interesting article also appears in
Canadian Business on Line. It's entitled: His Way or The Highway.
It's a very good read at:
http://www.canadianbusiness.com/managing/strategy/article.jsp?content=20060109_103241_4508

[speedking]

the more i read about stronach, the more i like the guy. imagine, single handedly doing what all the whiners on this board complain about, keeping tracks afloat, bringing racing into the current century! by god, that's a man.

i hope they shut down youbet in the year, and start getting a return for all the money they've spent on the future of the sport.

:confused::mad::bang::lol:...You are evidently not one of the Magna shareholders:lol:


speedking

[ELA]

Just as an FYI -- I read that Magna International (not Magna Entertainment) has an almost $1.5 billion (yes, that's a "b", LOL) surplus in cash over and above their long-term debt!

Very interesting, and very opposite mindset between MI and ME.

Eric

[Greyfox]

Nobody could ever accuse Frank of not knowing how to make money.
With his deal with Chrysler fallen down the well, he's now trying to sell
half of his controlling shares to Oleg Deripaska, a "nouveau riche" Ruskie.
He's doing this without explaining much to his other shareholders.
It's basically a "take care of Stronach" deal to which one anonymous shareholder has said:

"I think the A shareholders have got to have rocks in their head to approve this," said a representative of a large Magna investor, who asked that his name not be used. "Frank is essentially back-door selling his controlling stake in the company and minority shareholders are not participating in the change of control."

Somewhere alone the way, my crystal ball foresees Stronach being taken on again in court for running his companies "as if" he were the sole owner.

More details of the story are at:
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=260dd8df-4d13-4ba7-ab8e-a43d8db5cc5c&k=53369