CONSECO SHOWED HIM THE MONEY

When Conseco Inc.’s new chairman and chief executive, Gary C. Wendt, agreed last month to take the reins at the struggling company, it came at a price for the struggling insurer. The New York Times reported that Wendt was paid a $45-million signing bonus along with 3.2 million shares of stock now worth $31.2 million, as well as 10 million options. While Wendt will not receive a salary for the first two years he runs Conseco, the Times reported he will get a bonus of no less than $8 million, and as much as $50 million at the end of the two-year period, depending upon stock results. Wendt, 58, is the former CEO of GE Capital, a unit of General Electric. His contract with the company is for five years, the final three of which will see him making $1 million in salary with a bonus of up to $2.8 million, $1.5 million in stock and annual grants of 500,000 in options.