Granatelli, Despite Losses, Says He’s Worth It

Andy Granatelli works for a company that has lost $54 million in a little more than two years.

Still, the former Indianapolis 500 titan took home a salary of nearly $1.5 million last year.

“I don’t think you can overpay anybody who makes things happen. And I make things happen,” said 64-year-old Granatelli, chairman of Tuneup Masters, a chain of quick-fix auto repair shops that is a subsidiary of troubled Cardis Corp. in Buena Park.

While losses have been staggering at Cardis, Tuneup Masters has been consistently profitable, said Granatelli, who sold the chain to Cardis in 1986. Cardis’ losses are attributable to its wholesale auto parts and supply business.

At the time of the sale, Granatelli signed a five-year contract with Cardis that guarantees minimum compensation of $360,000 a year, plus additional amounts based on performance. The deal calls for Granatelli to be Tuneup Masters’ chairman and chief pitchman. As part of the arrangement, Granatelli makes radio and television commercials at six times union scale.

Granatelli said executives’ salaries should be cut substantially if a company is doing poorly and they are responsible for the performance. “But if you’re making money, and making things happen, you deserve what you get.”

Nevertheless, Cardis’ poor performance has had a negative impact on Granatelli’s bottom line.

Granatelli received 960,000 shares of Cardis stock in exchange for Tuneup Masters. At the time of the sale, the stock was worth $8 a share, or a total of nearly $8 million. The shares later plummeted in response to the company’s financial problems. At Friday’s closing price of 62.5 cents a share, Granatelli’s stake was worth only $500,000.