Illustration by Kristy Heilenday
Philip J. Schoonover, former CEO, president, board chairman of Circuit City When they pulled the plug on Schoonover, Circuit City hardly left him in the dark. The man who, industry experts say, helped bring down an international electronics retailing empire in less than a decade walked with a $1.8 million severance deal after he was forced to resign. Schoonover landed on his feet in the sands of Ft. Lauderdale, where he is now principal of the Schoonover Group. His company profile highlights his Circuit City experience: "He launched the $450M Firedog services business and grew the circuitcity.com business to $1.4B." No mention is made of the day the lights went out George Richard "Rick" Wagoner Jr., former CEO, General Motors A GM employee for 32 years, Wagoner, a Richmond native, was credited with helping rescue the company in the early 1990s after a $30 billion loss. But his "back-to-basics" management reforms left the company stalled when the economy collapsed in 2008, and Wagoner was forced to relinquish the driver's seat in 2009. Though Congress didn't allow GM to give Wagoner severance in the bailout, he is receiving a total of $8.2 million through 2014 in a retirement package. He recently invested $1.7 million into Tred, a Seattle company that allows online shoppers to have cars brought to their doorsteps for test drives.
Job & Salary Stories
Theodore L. "Ted" Chandler, formerly of LandAmerica Once the head of the mortgage title insurance giant LandAmerica, Chandler's business fortunes changed in 2008 when the company posted multibillion-dollar losses in the third quarter of that year and subsequently filed for bankruptcy. To settle a customer lawsuit in 2012, LandAmerica's officers and directors agreed to give up claims of more than $3 million that they said were owed to them in severance payments. Today, Chandler remains active in the Richmond community, fostering innovative, socially conscious business startups through New Richmond Ventures with his fellow venture-capitalist buddies, J. Robert "Bob" Mooney, Jim Ukrop and Andy Stefanovich. He's also on a variety of boards including the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. Michael Frazier, former CEO of Genworth Business may have gone south for the former CEO of mortgage guarantee company Genworth, but after being "humbled" in 2011 by the company's 50 percent stock drop, Frazier checked out, taking $2.25 million for his troubles, in addition to some stock options. Frazier keeps busy today as owner of the Richmond Raiders, and their mascot, "Risky." Frazier also serves on the boards of a variety of charitable and community-focused organizations, like the Andre Agassi Charitable Foundation, VCU School of Education Advancement Council, and CenterStage.
