Today, the Board of Directors proudly announced a repurchase $1.5 billion of L-3 common stock. This was done after Val Snyder repeatedly assured us that times were tough and the company could not afford salary increases or reasonable severance packages, and preceded with demotions, layoffs and threats. The severance packages offered were about one third of what former packages were and what still is standard at decent reputable US defense contractors. Furthermore, L-3’s balance sheet shows third quarter net operating cash of $390M with $508M of cash on hand. A chunk of the purchased stock will be awarded as stock options back to the executive staffs in NY and SLC. Not only is the stock and current stock options owned by top management worth more, their future stock option awards are going to be worth more too. The employees and customers of L-3 are being taken advantage of. These guys are a corrupt bunch of money-grubbing jackals stripping wealth out of the firm for themselves.
The problem with the leadership of a L-3 Communications being ‘financial types’ is that they only measure success by the increase of their personal net worth. Their ethic is to accumulate as much wealth as possible for themselves and live as extravagantly as they can, while they can, before they get the boot. There is no leadership here, only hidden, self-serving greedy people and their corrupt principles. What they are doing is most likely legal, but shouldn’t be. The principles of dedication and hard work no longer matter. But they will assure you it does: after all our work is making them filthy rich.
In the name of creating shareholder value, L-3 is doing splendidly. It’s been a terrific year. They must be sore from patting themselves on the back. Bonuses for the leadership should be higher than normal this year. After all, it’s stressful having to terminate and bring financial harm to the little people. These guys are making millions as the people who built the company suffer. They must be laughing at us. We’re gullible enough to believe their BS. The game they’re playing is so easy, in SLC people will believe anything you tell them, such fools. It’s like taking candy from a baby.
What could that $1.5B have done? We could have developed products, saved careers, treated employees with dignity, and been treated like we have value as well as help our country. But instead, these guys are lining their wallets and taking what we have worked for. Shame on you L-3 Executives, shame on you. Shame on you Val, Rich, Mike and Ralph.