David Simon
Analyst · Quentin Velleley with Citi
Well, it -- look, I think Michael, it took longer than it should have. And I think part of the length of it is just the care that the comp committee took in deciding what was appropriate. We -- obviously, these kinds of things, are very sensitive, very focused given the -- rightfully, I've no problem with the scrutiny that something like this comes with. And I think, again, I wasn't privy to the comp committee's deliberations, but my guess is, given the -- what was going on, that they took a lot of time to feel comfortable with it. Now -- and also there has been a lot of volatility in the world during this period of time. So -- and obviously, my primary focus over the last 20 months has been running this company, and this has not been the #1 agenda on my plate. I do think, again, I was not part of the comp committee deliberations, but my guess is they studied past performance. I'm sure they looked at some of the recent comp deals that were out there for new and existing chief executives. I'm sure they considered, if, for whatever reason, they had to replace me, what it would cost for a new CEO. And just generally, what are the requirements that the company needs to lead the company from a CEO in the future. With all that said, I think they concluded that the deal they struck with me was in the best interest of the company. And the share amount was generally the same for that long period of time. And so the size of the apparent transaction, so it's an 8-year deal, which I think the market sometimes loses sight of, got bigger because, obviously, the stock performed -- has performed well over that period of time. So I don't know if that answers your question, but they were sure they were very deliberate in their efforts. I was very focused on running the company, and we've been living in a very volatile world. You put all that together and it takes a pretty, pretty long time. From my standpoint, look, I've been doing this for -- I've been running this company for 16 years, and I -- it was appropriate for me to kind of assess where I was, what I wanted to do in the future. And I wanted to work out a deal that recognized what I brought to the table. And over that 16 years, I want you to realize that I've never had an employment agreement. I've never had a deal, and both from my standpoint and I believe the comp committee standpoint, though I can't speak for them, we both felt it was appropriate to negotiate something for a longer period of time that delivered a certainty and that we all felt, myself included, because I'm a shareholder, that was in the best interest of the company.