Jack Welch: "perception matters"
In today's Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Jack Welch writes a signed essay:
I'm not going to get into a public fight refuting every allegation in that filing. But some charges have gotten a lot of media attention. So, for the record, I've always paid for my personal meals, don't have a cook, have no personal tickets to cultural and sporting events and rarely use GE or NBC seats for such events. In fact, my favorite team, the Red Sox, has played 162 home games over the past two years, and I've attended just one.
But these things are not the issue. How to deal with my employment contract is what creates a dilemma
...To some, changing the contract may seem like an easy decision. However, changing it could raise the possibility that something about it was improper.
And, others might say, "Why didn't you bring this up before it was in the papers?" The simple truth is: There was not a single day in the past six years that I thought it was improper, and I don't believe it is improper today. I was given extra compensation for remaining at GE until I was 65 -- compensation which would be delivered in-kind post-retirement, rather than a much greater payment in cash pre-retirement.