Leaving so soon, Mr. Brandon?
Toys ‘R’ Us Chief Executive David Brandon and many of his top lieutenants will exit the bankrupt chain on Monday — with the pockets of at least five of them stuffed with bonus money, The Post has learned.
The execs will walk away from the sinking ship of a chain while thousands of hourly workers finish the grim task of completing liquidation sales at hundreds of stores across the country.
Those workers are expected to finish their jobs and turn off the lights for the last time in late July.
They will then be out of a job — without any bonus cash. They are fighting to get some severance pay.
Brandon and his C-Suite cronies are among 1,159 employees who have either already packed their bags or will soon leave the Wayne, NJ, headquarters.
Brandon and at least eight other senior executives, including Chief Financial Officer Michael Short, General Counsel James Young and Controller Charles Knight are leaving, spokeswoman Amy Von Walter confirmed to The Post.
“About 300 employees in payroll, human resources and legal are staying on to help with the liquidation,” said Von Walter, who is also leaving on May 14.
The five execs in Brandon’s bunch shared $8.2 million in retention bonuses, approved by the company a week before the Sept. 19 bankruptcy.
To keep their September retention bonus, none of the recipients could quit within a year. Since the execs are leaving not because they resigned — but because the good ship Toys ‘R’ Us is sinking and their jobs eliminated — they get to keep the bonus cash, a source close to the company confirmed.
“It’s very unusual for the C Suite to leave before the business is entirely wound down,” said bankruptcy lawyer Richard Weltman.
The company’s advisers “could have said they don’t need the higher-priced executives to complete the wind-down,” said David Pollack of Ballard Spahr. “Or it could be that management feels it’s in their best interest to leave now.”
Industry insiders say that it’s likely that senior Toys ‘R’ Us executives will be sued for their roles in the bankruptcy.
Brandon, who recently started a consulting firm, received $2.8 million of the $8.2 million in retention bonuses — on top of his $3.7 million salary, according to a report.