Wagoner: Optimist, Survivor, Martyr?

(NEWSER) - Now he can fly on all the private planes he wants: Former General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner will collect an $8.2 million payout package, plus a $74,000 annual pension, reports the Detroit Free Press. If he chooses, the 56-year-old Wagoner also can cash out a company life insurance policy worth $2.6 million. If this seems like a lot for the ex-chief of a bankrupt company, it may help (a little) to know that his retirement benefits were valued at $22 million only last year. More»

Announces program to help unemployed car owners

(NEWSER) - In his first press conference as CEO of foundering GM, Fritz Henderson today made it clear he wasn’t afraid to talk bankruptcy, saying it was now “more probable,” and that he might even decide to declare bankruptcy before his 60 days were up. “We will do it in court, or we will do it out of court, but we will get the job done,” he said. More»

After Wagoner ousting, financials fear similar fate

(NEWSER) - After the Obama administration kicked out GM’s boss and said two of the Big Three automakers may benefit from bankruptcy, CEOs of banks bailed out by the government are wondering if there's a bull's-eye on their backs, the Washington Post reports. The risk of such a crackdown has been “heightened,” says a financial lobbyist, and the biggest banks are the most likely to be in the crosshairs. More»

(NEWSER) - GM’s current restructuring plan isn’t going to cut the mustard, President Obama’s auto task force declared in its stinging assessment for the White House. The memo accuses GM of relying on rosy, unrealistic projections for sales, burning through too much cash, expecting too much from the rollout of the electric Chevy Volt, and giving itself until 2014 to reach many of its goals. The team will force out most of GM’s directors, on the heels of last night’s ouster of CEO Rick Wagoner. More»

GM, Chrysler working to prepare turnaround plans before Tuesday deadline

(NEWSER) - General Motors will put Congress between a rock and a hard place when it presents its turnaround plan next week, reports the Wall Street Journal. Insiders say the automaker will ask for at least another $5 billion in loans on top of the $13.4 billion already received to keep it going beyond the first quarter, and will tell lawmakers its only other option is reorganization through bankruptcy. More»