Tuesday, April 19, 2011

GE (GE) Adds Conditions to Immelt's Options

After an outcry from some shareholders, General Electric (NYSE:GE) decided to put new conditions on the two million stock options granted to Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt last year.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GE said, "Some shareholders have expressed the view that additional performance conditions should be applied to Mr. Immelt's 2010 stock option award."

Included in the changes will be the successful increase in the industrial businesses of the company, and as measured by the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, returns beating the index in regard to stock appreciation and dividends.

Under the changes, 50 percent of the options will vest only if GE pulls in cumulative industrial cash flow from operating activities of at least $55 billion between the start of 2011 and the end of 2014. The other half will vest only if GE's overall shareholder return is equal to or better than that of the S&P 500 during that same period of time.

General Electric was trading at $20.24, gaining $0.26, or 1.30 percent, as of 1:31 PM EDT.

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