Dive Brief:
- Want to leave an impression on your workforce after some economic woes if you are the CEO? One thing you could do is turn back $14 million in stock-related income and donate it to employers.
- That's what LinkedIn's Jeff Weiner did this week. Along with other economic bad news, the company’s stock underwent a serious crash of more than 43% one day after reporting its fourth-quarter earnings in early February.
- According to an article at Re/Code, LinkedIn also had sluggish new member growth during the last six months of 2015 and lower page views.
Dive Insight:
Employers often have business slowdowns and economic problems, but senior management doesn't usually suffer for it. That's why such moves often garner news attention, as they are clearly meant to engage the hearts and minds of lower-level employees, who are more likely to feel the brunt of bad economic times.
According to Re/Code, in October Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey turned over $200 million in stock to Twitter employees after company-wide layoffs and a tanking stock price had taken their toll. Both Weiner and Dorsey remain extremely wealthy men.
