(Un)Friendly's CEO compensation battle

From the front page of today's WSJ: Full disclosure: I scooped ice cream one summer back in the 1980's at a Friendly's in NH. I never once double-dipped improperly, nor did I ever get to ride on the company jet.

WILBRAHAM, Mass: Three years ago, S. Prestley Blake, the 91 year old co-founder of the Friendly's restaurant chain, filed a lawsuit seeking to make the chairman of Friendly, Donald N. Smith, repay part of the cost of operating an $8 million company jet he used to fly across the U.S.

Mr. Blake has prodded the company to acknowledge some unreported personal use of the plane and has uncovered details of transactions between Friendly and another company Mr. Smith once controlled. Although Friendly disclosed these as related-party transactions, Mr. Blake says the fresh information he discovered shows that Mr. Smith and the other company owe Friendly $12 million for flight expenses, food purchases and other deals that benefited him at the expense of Friendly. Mr. Blake also wants Mr. Smith to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars in pay he received while serving for a time as Friendly chief executive but -- as he acknowledges -- working only part time.

Read the whole article HERE