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Post by prcgorman2 on Jun 21, 2019 20:47:24 GMT -5
I believe you Sports. I’m probably wrong not to be negative about it. Just can’t tell because of my experiences with raises in bonuses during what can only be described as “hard times”. I guess it wasn’t ok then and should not be ok now, and I’m just not sufficiently sensitive. Time will well.
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Post by awesomo on Jun 21, 2019 20:50:21 GMT -5
I don’t know what to say about the raises and bonuses other than I’ve seen similar kinds of behavior from other companies and near as I can tell, it’s based on pre-negotiated performance targets that have been agreed to by the Board. Certainly, nobody can argue that management doesn’t deserve to be paid, and feel free to look across the industry and provide useful examples that show this compensation was an egregious exception. I doubt that will be easy to do. My daughter works for a small pharma company and her management (Dr.s) are extremely well paid too. It’s not surprising. These degrees aren’t earned at a community college. As for the stock options, complaining about that is just plain silly. It’s funny money. I’ve been given stock options and plenty ended up worthless except as a tax write off. These costs are not material to the operation of the company. Jobs taking $1 was shrewd, but it was for a company he’d already been CEO of and which had already made him and many others billionaires. For all I know MC is still paying off student loans. So, I’m ambivalent about the pay. It’s caused a lot of fussing, so I might be under-reacting. Still not very worried. If they fail to earn their pay, we and they know what will happen, sooner or later. Hey, you made the comparison to Jobs and his big ego. Having a huge ego is fine if you back it up. Jobs did. And he certainly was not a billionaire in 1997, his wealth was tied up in Apple stock which was trading as low as $3.19 in July 1997, a few months after Jobs rejoined the company. Giving yourself raises right after diluting shareholders and missing their own projected Afrezza sales by a country mile is bad optics.
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Post by sportsrancho on Jun 21, 2019 20:52:09 GMT -5
I believe you Sports. I’m probably wrong not to be negative about it. Just can’t tell because of my experiences with raises in bonuses during what can only be described as “hard times”. I guess it wasn’t ok then and should not be ok now, and I’m just not sufficiently sensitive. Time will well. I know and I’m just trying to explain a little bit of what I feel is happening, like sweedee said ...it goes back before the Christmas massacre, after that shareholders became divided ..somebody on stock twits said it’s like a Civil War. My opinion is there was so much wealth lost that it caused rebellion and discontent. Yes people can say it’s just a paper loss and everything will be fine but the problem is there are some people that just don’t feel that everything will be fine. They are scared. They’re searching for solutions and answers. Sometimes it’s nice to just take a break and go read the Afrezza Facebook page!
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Post by boytroy88 on Jun 21, 2019 20:55:10 GMT -5
mnholdem, good post, but Mike angling for the job of CEO doesn’t bother me, and Matt losing the job of CEO doesn’t bother me either. I do agree that Matt P appeared to be genuinely committed to honoring Al’s legacy and making Mannkind a success if he could. And I think Matt was a pretty good CFO and appreciate his stewardship in the interim until Mike took the reins. I also appreciate that he recognized and hired talent. Maybe he would have closed the deal with Dr. Kendall too. And maybe he would have found a better Indian partner than Cipla. But I, and apparently the Board of Directors (who appear to be competent and I’m grateful we have Kent Kresa as our chairman) lost confidence in Matt P as compared to what they saw was usefully being accomplished by Mike. This may end up being a woefully painful comparison for me to remember having made (in the future), but Steve Jobs was well known for being a gigantic egotistical expletive. He was also a briliant CEO who made many enemies. Ego doesn’t bother me. VDEX Bill’s ego doesn’t concern me. Mannkind was on extremely shaky ground, and has made provable, measured, progress. Could someone else have done better? Could Matt have done better? We’ll never know. It’s water under the bridge. I’m conservative. I don’t like changing horses in midstream (you can drown), and I believe you dance with the one what brung you. Maybe Matt was that dance partner, but it isn’t clear to me that’s true. What I see is India, Brazil, UTHR, TreT, and improved and improving Afrezza sales under Mike, and possibly, if we can hope SO is correct in his guesses, a brillian restructure of debt with useful injection of runway operating capital. You, and Sports have succeeded in making me uncomfortable (not that I can ever get too comfortable with this investment) because of your tenure and steadfast positive contributions and I don’t like being a respectful opposition, but apparently I’m there. I hope you’re wrong in your opinion of Mike’s competence. Steve Jobs also took a salary of $1 as CEO from 1997 to 2011 when he returned and turned Apple around because he was that committed and convinced in the company and his ability to get the job done. His pay was completely 100% equity. Compare that to what Castagna and management just did, giving themselves raises while shareholders are being gutted and the company is financially unstable. I don't think that's a fair comparison. Steve was already financially secured when he took the $1/yr salary. Yeah, quite a few here thinks that MC and senior management getting a raise at this time isn't right but with the present economy I think it's the only way for the company to retain who they feel are good/great employees. I'll be interested to hear whether the other employees in the company also got decent raises.
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Post by awesomo on Jun 21, 2019 21:00:06 GMT -5
Steve Jobs also took a salary of $1 as CEO from 1997 to 2011 when he returned and turned Apple around because he was that committed and convinced in the company and his ability to get the job done. His pay was completely 100% equity. Compare that to what Castagna and management just did, giving themselves raises while shareholders are being gutted and the company is financially unstable. I don't think that's a fair comparison. Steve was already financially secured when he took the $1/yr salary. Yeah, quite a few here thinks that MC and senior management getting a raise at this time isn't right but with the present economy I think it's the only way for the company to retain who they feel are good/great employees. I'll be interested to hear whether the other employees in the company also got decent raises. Great executives like Garrett Ingram? Our good IR friend Rose? How about the absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary Chief People Officer? What is our Chief Commercial Officer even working on right now?
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Post by boytroy88 on Jun 21, 2019 21:11:46 GMT -5
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Steve was already financially secured when he took the $1/yr salary. Yeah, quite a few here thinks that MC and senior management getting a raise at this time isn't right but with the present economy I think it's the only way for the company to retain who they feel are good/great employees. I'll be interested to hear whether the other employees in the company also got decent raises. Great executives like Garrett Ingram? Our good IR friend Rose? How about the absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary Chief People Officer? What is our Chief Commercial Officer even working on right now? That's why I wrote who the company thinks are good/great employees....
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Post by prcgorman2 on Jun 21, 2019 21:16:21 GMT -5
Michael Castagna closed the deal on Kendall after he became CEO and, while he has never publicly taken all the credit, he also never refuted the belief the the hiring of our reputable CMO was all his idea (to his credit). Pfeffer hired Castagna and was targeting Dr. Kendall. So how did Castagna wind up becoming CEO? I believe that was largely maneuvered by Castagna, himself, convincing the Mann Group, who was tight with the Board of Directors, that he was more qualified than Matt to be CEO. My opinion as a shareholder, after a couple years of evaluating his performance, is that Castagna is not qualified to be CEO. He throws a great curve ball, but is unable to get the ball across the plate. Do you think Pfeffer couldn't have secured deals with Brazil and India (by the way, if you haven't noticed, Cipla is currently in a severe tailspin in drug sales and is on the verge of total collapse). Pfeffer would have got China, Mexico and Europe. IMO, castagna took advantage of the Mann family to his advantage and hoped to "learn on the fly" once he replaced Pfeffer. His decision to reward himself and the team he put together seems clearly based on the hope securing the loyalty of his team rather than rewarding them for performance. I stop here by simply saying that Alfred Mann was a legend, Hakan Edstrom was a brilliant product developer and Matthew Pfeffer was 100% committed to bring Al Mann's vision to reality. As CEO, he hired excellent people and was executing his plan to hire more when Castagna made his bold move against Pfeffer. I have the the utmost respect for the first three CEOs. I've lost all respect for Michael Castagna. In my opinion he will either destroy this company or, under his inept leadership, the company will be sold for a fraction of its value. Best post I have ever read here, nothing comes close! Despite all of you Castagna lovers he is a incompetent POS just the way it is “a incompetent” is incorrect. And POS is impolite. Would you tell his parents, wife, or children that?
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Post by nylefty on Jun 21, 2019 21:31:31 GMT -5
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Steve was already financially secured when he took the $1/yr salary. Yeah, quite a few here thinks that MC and senior management getting a raise at this time isn't right but with the present economy I think it's the only way for the company to retain who they feel are good/great employees. I'll be interested to hear whether the other employees in the company also got decent raises. Great executives like Garrett Ingram? Our good IR friend Rose? How about the absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary Chief People Officer? What is our Chief Commercial Officer even working on right now? Was Ingram fired because she was incompetent or did she quit because she had great ideas that were vetoed by Mike and/or the BOD? And Chief People Officer is another name for Chief of HR. You think having an HR chief is ridiculous and unnecessary?
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Post by buyitonsale on Jun 21, 2019 21:37:29 GMT -5
Michael Castagna closed the deal on Kendall after he became CEO and, while he has never publicly taken all the credit, he also never refuted the belief the the hiring of our reputable CMO was all his idea (to his credit). Pfeffer hired Castagna and was targeting Dr. Kendall. So how did Castagna wind up becoming CEO? I believe that was largely maneuvered by Castagna, himself, convincing the Mann Group, who was tight with the Board of Directors, that he was more qualified than Matt to be CEO. My opinion as a shareholder, after a couple years of evaluating his performance, is that Castagna is not qualified to be CEO. He throws a great curve ball, but is unable to get the ball across the plate. Do you think Pfeffer couldn't have secured deals with Brazil and India (by the way, if you haven't noticed, Cipla is currently in a severe tailspin in drug sales and is on the verge of total collapse). Pfeffer would have got China, Mexico and Europe. IMO, castagna took advantage of the Mann family to his advantage and hoped to "learn on the fly" once he replaced Pfeffer. His decision to reward himself and the team he put together seems clearly based on the hope securing the loyalty of his team rather than rewarding them for performance. I stop here by simply saying that Alfred Mann was a legend, Hakan Edstrom was a brilliant product developer and Matthew Pfeffer was 100% committed to bring Al Mann's vision to reality. As CEO, he hired excellent people and was executing his plan to hire more when Castagna made his bold move against Pfeffer. I have the the utmost respect for the first three CEOs. I've lost all respect for Michael Castagna. In my opinion he will either destroy this company or, under his inept leadership, the company will be sold for a fraction of its value. Where is the punchline? What are going to do with this investment now? Practice what you preach.
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Post by lifebreath on Jun 21, 2019 22:01:56 GMT -5
I don't think that's a fair comparison. Steve was already financially secured when he took the $1/yr salary. Yeah, quite a few here thinks that MC and senior management getting a raise at this time isn't right but with the present economy I think it's the only way for the company to retain who they feel are good/great employees. I'll be interested to hear whether the other employees in the company also got decent raises. Great executives like Garrett Ingram? Our good IR friend Rose? How about the absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary Chief People Officer? What is our Chief Commercial Officer even working on right now? And Castagna hired them all
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Post by nylefty on Jun 21, 2019 22:17:15 GMT -5
Great executives like Garrett Ingram? Our good IR friend Rose? How about the absolutely ridiculous and unnecessary Chief People Officer? What is our Chief Commercial Officer even working on right now? And Castagna hired them all He didn't hire Rose. She was there long before Castagna was hired.
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Post by rtmd on Jun 21, 2019 22:21:54 GMT -5
Michael Castagna closed the deal on Kendall after he became CEO and, while he has never publicly taken all the credit, he also never refuted the belief the the hiring of our reputable CMO was all his idea (to his credit). Pfeffer hired Castagna and was targeting Dr. Kendall. So how did Castagna wind up becoming CEO? I believe that was largely maneuvered by Castagna, himself, convincing the Mann Group, who was tight with the Board of Directors, that he was more qualified than Matt to be CEO. My opinion as a shareholder, after a couple years of evaluating his performance, is that Castagna is not qualified to be CEO. He throws a great curve ball, but is unable to get the ball across the plate. Do you think Pfeffer couldn't have secured deals with Brazil and India (by the way, if you haven't noticed, Cipla is currently in a severe tailspin in drug sales and is on the verge of total collapse). Pfeffer would have got China, Mexico and Europe. IMO, castagna took advantage of the Mann family to his advantage and hoped to "learn on the fly" once he replaced Pfeffer. His decision to reward himself and the team he put together seems clearly based on the hope securing the loyalty of his team rather than rewarding them for performance. I stop here by simply saying that Alfred Mann was a legend, Hakan Edstrom was a brilliant product developer and Matthew Pfeffer was 100% committed to bring Al Mann's vision to reality. As CEO, he hired excellent people and was executing his plan to hire more when Castagna made his bold move against Pfeffer. I have the the utmost respect for the first three CEOs. I've lost all respect for Michael Castagna. In my opinion he will either destroy this company or, under his inept leadership, the company will be sold for a fraction of its value. And what would anyone else do that would "get the ball across the plate. " The old saying is you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. Ditto for leading diabetics and endos to afrezza. If VDEX is serious, then they need to offer proof that they have been successful at lining up and keeping new customers.
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Post by lifebreath on Jun 21, 2019 22:27:10 GMT -5
And Castagna hired them all He didn't hire Rose. She was there long before Castagna was hired. [br True but he did change her job classification
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Post by lifebreath on Jun 22, 2019 9:25:45 GMT -5
Michael Castagna closed the deal on Kendall after he became CEO and, while he has never publicly taken all the credit, he also never refuted the belief the the hiring of our reputable CMO was all his idea (to his credit). Pfeffer hired Castagna and was targeting Dr. Kendall. So how did Castagna wind up becoming CEO? I believe that was largely maneuvered by Castagna, himself, convincing the Mann Group, who was tight with the Board of Directors, that he was more qualified than Matt to be CEO. My opinion as a shareholder, after a couple years of evaluating his performance, is that Castagna is not qualified to be CEO. He throws a great curve ball, but is unable to get the ball across the plate. Do you think Pfeffer couldn't have secured deals with Brazil and India (by the way, if you haven't noticed, Cipla is currently in a severe tailspin in drug sales and is on the verge of total collapse). Pfeffer would have got China, Mexico and Europe. IMO, castagna took advantage of the Mann family to his advantage and hoped to "learn on the fly" once he replaced Pfeffer. His decision to reward himself and the team he put together seems clearly based on the hope securing the loyalty of his team rather than rewarding them for performance. I stop here by simply saying that Alfred Mann was a legend, Hakan Edstrom was a brilliant product developer and Matthew Pfeffer was 100% committed to bring Al Mann's vision to reality. As CEO, he hired excellent people and was executing his plan to hire more when Castagna made his bold move against Pfeffer. I have the the utmost respect for the first three CEOs. I've lost all respect for Michael Castagna. In my opinion he will either destroy this company or, under his inept leadership, the company will be sold for a fraction of its value. Mnhldm I have never understood how someone as business savvy as Kent Kresa would hire Castagna as ceo. Are you saying the Mann group pressured Kent to hire MC? Do you think Mann group still has confidence Castagna?
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Post by agedhippie on Jun 22, 2019 9:41:52 GMT -5
Mnhldm I have never understood how someone as business savvy as Kent Kresa would hire Castagna as ceo. Are you saying the Mann group pressured Kent to hire MC? Do you think Mann group still has confidence Castagna? The Mann Group is no longer relevant since they have sold most of their stock to give Mannkind the last of the loan facility so Deerfield could be paid.
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