Poor Uncle Ed

I know alot of you have been worrying about POOR UNCLE ED... so I thought this might let you sleep better at night ,, knowing he was OK>>>


AT&T chief's retirement package: $158.5M
Telecommunications company says Edward Whitacre, a 43-year veteran of AT&T, has helped the firm outperform its peers, newspaper reports.
April 27 2007: 11:18 AM EDT
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- AT&T Inc. Chief Executive Edward Whitacre will be given one of the highest-paying retirement packages in 2007, weighing in at $158.5 million, a newspaper reported Friday.
Whitacre announced that he will retire on June 3 from the world's largest telecommunications company. The board had selected current chief operating officer Randall Stephenson to replace him as both chief executive and chairman, he said.
According to a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Whitacre's retirement package will include $24,000 in annual automobile benefits, $6,500 each year for "home security," access to AT&T's (Charts, Fortune 500) corporate jet for 10 hours a month and $25,000 to cover his country-club fees, The Wall Street Journal said.
Whitacre, who has been with the company for 43 years, and his family will also receive free health insurance for life, while AT&T will pay the taxes on most of the benefits. During his retirement, he will also be paid a little over $1 million for three years for work as a consultant.
An AT&T spokesman told the Journal that Whitacre's pay and pension reflected his position as one of the longest-serving and most successful CEOs in corporate America.
"During his tenure as CEO, AT&T has outperformed its peers in delivering value to stockholders, and Mr. Whitacre has positioned the company to continue to create stockholder value for many years to come," an AT&T spokesman told the Journal.
The real CEO pay problem
AT&T recently announced its profit doubled in the latest quarter and beat Wall Street forecasts, helped by the purchase of Bell South. The telecommunications company has $120 billion in revenue and more than 100 million customers.
Last year, Whitacre earned about $31.5 million in pay, and the company defended his compensation package by pointing out that AT&T provided a 53 percent return to shareholders, the paper said.
Whitacre's retirement package ranks as the second-highest payout in the U.S. among those on file with the SEC as of mid-April, the Corporate Library, a research firm that tracks executive salaries and corporate governance, told the Journal.
.