Under the GM compensation plan for outside directors, Mullen is required to defer 50% of his annual Board retainer into shares of GM Common Stock
General Motors announced the election of retired Admiral Michael Mullen to a lucrative position on the GM board of directors effective immediately. Mullen served as the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007 to 2011. He was the principal military adviser to President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, as well as two Secretaries of Defense.
As with the other non-employee members of the GM Board, Admiral Mullen will receive an annual retainer of $200,000 for his service, prorated, as well as the use of a company vehicle and related personal accident insurance.
Mullen led the military during the end of the ruinously expensive war in Iraq and the development of what was called a new military strategy for Afghanistan. Mullen commands in the Navy after his Annapolis graduation in 1968 included three ships, an aircraft carrier battle group and a fleet. His final four-star command was in Europe for NATO.
His fleet experience culminated in his assignment as the Navy’s highest-ranking officer, the 28th Chief of Naval Operations from 2005 to 2007. He earned a Master’s of Science degree in Operations Research from the Naval Postgraduate School and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.
The addition of Mullen brings the GM Board to 15 members. Admiral Mullen has not been named to any committees of the Board. GM in an SEC filing said it anticipates that Philip A. Laskawy will retire from the GM Board immediately prior to GM’s 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Mr. Laskawy has served on the GM Board since July 2009.
Under the General Motors Company Deferred Compensation Plan for Non-Employee Directors, Admiral Mullen is required to defer 50% of his annual Board retainer into shares of GM Common Stock and may elect to defer all or 50% of the remainder in additional shares of GM Common. Amounts deferred and credited as share units under this plan will not be available until after Admiral Mullen retires or otherwise leaves the Board, at which time he will receive a cash payment or payments based on the number of shares in his account, valued at the average daily market price for the quarter immediately preceding payment.
Mullen is currently a visiting professor at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
