[Some insignia. Some class.]
April 8, 2007
EXECUTIVE PAY; Quietly, Retail Executives Move Into Top Paydays
By MICHAEL BARBARO AND ERIC DASH
THE richest paydays are supposed to be reserved for Wall Street titans, oil barons and banking moguls. So what is a handbag maker doing atop the list?
Lew Frankfort, 61, the chief executive of Coach, earned $44.4 million last year, putting him in the same league as the chiefs at much bigger companies, like Goldman Sachs and Occidental Petroleum. In fact, his pay was about twice as much as the head of Citigroup, the financial giant.
Mr. Frankfort, a raspy-voiced, straight-talking former New York mayoral aide, may be the highest paid C.E.O. off Wall Street, edging out top executives at AT&T, Walt Disney and United Airlines.
Here's the unusual part: almost nobody objects. Over the last five years, under Mr. Frankfort's leadership, Coach's earnings rose to $494 million from $64 million and its stock price jumped to $51 from $6. Coach also developed a cult-like following among fans of cushy items like leather iPod covers and key fobs.
Given a soaring stock price and an enviable line of products, Mr. Frankfort is unapologetic about hauling in tens of millions of dollars. ''I believe that my role as the visionary and the leader is worth'' the pay, he said in an interview. ''Absolutely -- I do not feel uncomfortable with it.'' ...
Since 1995, when he became C.E.O., he has transformed Coach, once a niche player, into an international megabrand peddling luxury leather purses, flip-flops and backpacks. He also pioneered an entirely new retailing category, known as affordable luxury.
It was Coach, after all, that made it permissible, if not compulsory, for women to own not just one $250 handbag but several. ''We created a lane between moderate and luxury brands and that lane has become a super highway,'' Mr. Frankfort said. ...
<http://select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30713F93C5B0C7B8CDDAD0894DF404482>
Carl
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