Shares held by Gusella are not at market value - don't confuse our purchase costs to the executive team's. Don't forget, Gusella had a margin call and was forced to sell the shares he did buy at market prices (geez, how the heck does a CEO of a company make a bad call on his own company.......)
Stock options are a good thing, IF, and I'll repeat, IF, the stock options are set at market value of time of issuance, AND there's a specific period of performance (say 3 years). Issuing stock options at 10 cents, 50 cents, or no value, is a recipe for abuse (check any company on the major exchanges that have $500k base salary, and then millions in stock options excercised...nice gig).
Instead, if options are provided at current market value, and no increase in value occurs, options expire worthless - truly a bonus based on performance. But don't forget, executive's cost is ZERO, while common shareholders paid full value with real losses. Maybe it's time to change the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) used to measure success by CEOs - share price, hasn't worked well.
In addition, not mentioned thus far, is the age of some of these CEO's (including Gusella). Once CEO's start pushing 60-70 years of age, their objectives are more short term than 50,000 bbl/day. Their talents should be used on a consulting basis, or Board member, but not in a participatory stock option plan.
Warren Buffet has been screaming about this phenomena for years. Check out any company he invests in, he reviews (and often changes) executive compensation packages.
Good luck,
Booster
