http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/31/comcast-founder-paid-deadHere's the text :
IN a move sure to outrage shareholders, Comcast has decided to keep paying the salary of founder Ralph Roberts for five years after he dies.
Roberts, 87, is not dead yet, but the board seems to think he will keep on working until he drops if he is paid for five years after the Grime Reaper has shown up with his hour glass and scythe.
Unless Comcast know more about the afterlife than the rest of humanity, it is unlikely that Roberts will be able to spend the cash he earns when he is pushing up the daisies. Instead the money will be paid to his beneficiaries.
We don't see who this deal actually benefits. Roberts can't collect it and the beneficiaries don't do Comcast any good. Is there something powerful about keeping the name of Robert's on the payroll long after he has snuffed it? Is Comcast betting that he will somehow be able to influence company decisions from beyond the grave?
The cash involved is not small potatoes either. Roberts, whose son now heads the company, sits on the board of directors and is chairman of its executive and finance committee. He was paid more than $1.8 million last year.
The new agreement gives Roberts' beneficiaries his annual performance-based cash bonus although it is not clear how he will meet his performance targets after he has snuffed it.