Kenneth Hiltz, a turnaround expert serving as chief financial officer of bankrupt auto-parts maker Dana, is being paid $125,000 per month, according to the company’s annual report. Hiltz, who also receives out-of-pocket expenses, is living in Dana company facilities while he works at its Toledo, Ohio, corporate offices.
The Associated Press pointed out that to cut costs, Dana is seeking bankruptcy court approval to rescind some labor contracts and retirement benefits. “The achievement of our reorganization goals will depend in large part on the labor and benefits costs that we are able to reduce through negotiations with our U.S. and Canadian union organizations and through the bankruptcy process,” states the annual report.
Dana spokesman Chuck Hartlage told the AP that compensation for Hiltz and other executives was approved by the bankruptcy court and supported by Dana’s unsecured creditors and bondholders committees. “Apart from base compensation, virtually all of the executives’ compensation is dependent upon the company achieving aggressive performance targets,” he added.
Hiltz, a managing director of turnaround consultancy AlixPartners since 1991, signed on at Dana in March 2006 as a temporary employee working for a monthly fee.
Previously he served as the finance chief of Foster Wheeler, a provider of engineering services and products, and as chief restructuring officer and CFO of Hayes Lemmerz International, a supplier of automotive and commercial components.