Forbes Magazine: Gary Holden is The 5th Biggest Screwup!

According to Forbes Magazine, Gary Holden, CEO of public-owned energy utility Enmax, is one of the biggest CEO screw ups of the year.

As I recently reported, Holden made national headlines when he sent a ranting email to all Enmax employees chastising a former employee for leaking information to the media about lavish parties that had been held at his home on the company's dime. Holden went so far as to threaten legal recourse against the former employee in what seemed to be a warning to everyone else to keep quiet.

Helen Coster, the author of the article which was published on Forbes.com, said she found it surprising how Holden dealt with the accusations of wild company-fueled parties. She said most CEOs would have used a public relations firm, rather than attempting to control the situations themselves.

That should be sound advice for Mr. Holden during his future business dealings. Not only did he make the situation worse, but according to Forbes, Holden sounded "paranoid" when he warned employees not to speak to the press.

Also under the public microscope at Enmax is the executive pay scale. Salaries for executives have skyrocketed in the last few years.

Company documents show the chairman of the board, a part-time position, is currently banking $180,000 a year. Astounding, considering that only 8 years ago in 2002, the same position paid $18,000. For you statistic folks out there, that is a 1000% pay increase in 8 years. Talk about a cost of living increase.

Gary Holden himself seems to be enjoying regular pay increases. In 2002, his position paid a paltry $700,000 including salary and bonuses. In 2009, Holden took home nearly $2.7 million. That's a pretty good paycheque considering it's funded by City of Calgary taxpayers.

Newly elected Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he is awaiting a full report that will detail how Enmax chooses it's compensation packages. The Mayor also stated that past increases to board of directors salaries had been approved by previous city councils.

Nenshi stated he was most interested in having a long conversation with Holden regarding how current salaries are justified.

For the time being, we will have to wait until next week to find out more.