Club membership perks remain for many executives
Despite economic uncertainty and cost-cutting, club membership perks for corporate chief executives showed no signs of decline in 2008-09 -- including at toy giant Mattel Inc.
According to a report released Tuesday by research firm the Corporate Library, 382 CEOs received club membership fee benefits in 2008-09, compared with 372 in 2007-08. The firm reviewed filings of more than 3,200 U.S. publicly traded companies.
Among the top spenders was El Segundo-based Mattel, which reimbursed CEO Robert A. Eckert $150,000 for a country club initiation fee, the report said. Eckert also received $17,321 for “other perquisites” that could include country club expenses and a home security system.
Mattel spokeswoman Lisa Marie Bongiovanni said the country club benefit was provided to Eckert under his employment agreement. She declined to name the club.
“Mr. Eckert has had a club membership option available to him as a result of his employment agreement since joining the company in 2000, and 2008 was the first year that he exercised that option,” she said.
The Corporate Library said club memberships were often covered by companies for client entertainment, networking opportunities with other CEOs and business development.
“The median annual cost of club membership was $6,399, which, it might be claimed, is not an onerous expense for shareholders,” Paul Hodgson, senior research associate at the Corporate Library, said in Tuesday’s report. “Then again, it could be claimed that it would not be an onerous expense for CEOs who are often in receipt of multimillion-dollar pay packages.”
