This week the CEO of Woolworths Brad Banducci went from being someone who was relatively unknown, to someone the entire country knew and loathed. Now after the announcement of his retirement, folks are fuming against the potential amount he could be paid just to leave. Probably should have just finished the interview, hey Brad.
At the start of this week Brad Banducci was the CEO of Woolworths, and all seemed well for him. Then shortly after a dumpster fire interview on ABC’s Four Corners where he attempted to walk out, he announced he would be walking out from the position of CEO and into retirement.
Though Woolworths’ board clarified in a statement to shareholders that Brad’s retirement was absolutely nothing to do with his car crash interview, the public was highly skeptical of the coincidental timing.
> be CEO of Woolworths
— Leonardo Puglisi (@Leo_Puglisi6) February 20, 2024
> give one (1) interview
> resign two days later https://t.co/ErcIqtruv0
On the topic of his retirement Brad Banducci stated: “It’s eight years since I got this privilege and it kind of felt right to close that circle the way it started.”
But what added more fuel to the fire of public anger, was the announcement of how much the outgoing CEO will receive in payment as he leaves the company.
As confirmed by the ABC, Brad is looking at walking away with a cheeky portfolio worth as much as $24 million for serving as CEO — a payout colloquially referred to as a “golden parachute” or “golden handshake”.
Leader of the National Party David Littleproud slammed this retirement payout on Sunrise, labelling it as “an admission of guilt from Woolworths that they have been price-gouging”.
“This is straight out of the corporate playbook. Have a fall guy, “Nothing to see here!” Give him a golden handshake at $20 million-plus. Install somebody that was part of the former regime, so it is business as usual,” the MP stated, referring to how Woolworths announced Amanda Bardwell would be replacing Brad as CEO in September.
Littleproud called for the Australian Consumer and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to be granted additional powers to ensure these moves from the “corporate playbook” are kept in check.
And for anyone who was hoping that a new CEO will mean that prices on groceries might suddenly fall, don’t get your hopes up.
Thank god that Woolworths guy is gone! I’m sure the next supermarket chain CEO will be much better
— Emerald Moon (@emeraldxmoon) February 20, 2024
Both of Australia’s biggest supermarkets, Woolworths and Coles, will undergo a senate inquiry and an ACCC investigation into allegations of price-gouging.
In the meantime, I guess I’ll keep bargain hunting for my groceries on Facebook Marketplace — what could go wrong?
The post Woolworths’ Outgoing CEO Will Receive A Payout Of Up To $24 Million Just For Retiring appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
