BEHIND THE NEWS: Conseco tries to reel back Wendt retirement perk

Gary Wendt collected his $8 million bonus for staying at Conseco's helm through June of last year-much to the disgust of company creditors. But now it looks as though they may exact revenge, stripping him of the $1.5-million-a-year retirement payment he was supposed to start receiving upon turning 65 in March 2007.

The bonus and retirement payments were part of a souped-up package of perks the Conseco board assembled in the spring of 2000 to entice Wendt, a former GE Capital chief then viewed as one of the top financial services executives in the country, to take on the task of trying to save Conseco.

But Wendt's turnaround bid flopped. While he remains chairman, he stepped down as CEO in October, two months before the company filed one of the largest financial-services bankruptcies in U.S. history.

Now, creditors have the clout to strike back. While Conseco's board remains intact, it's a lame-duck panel. The real power lies in the hands of creditors. Conseco needs their votes to emerge from bankruptcy court. And if it does emerge, it will be under the guidance of a new board controlled by representatives of banks and bondholders.