Tarrant Business

Higher 2012 profit boosts compensation for top two D.R. Horton execs

Top officers at Fort Worth-based D.R. Horton didn't get a raise in base salary in 2012, but the home builder's chairman and its CEO each saw their total pay increase, according to its latest proxy statement filed Thursday. Chairman Don Horton's total compensation was $5.9 million, and CEO Don Tomnitz's was $5.2 million. Don Horton's total compensation was up 33 percent from a year ago, and Tomnitz' was up 32 percent.

Both executives received sharply higher incentive awards that are based on the company's pre-tax income, which soared from a year ago.  Don Horton and Tomnitz each were awarded 1 percent of the company's $242.9 million in 2012 pre-tax income, or $2.43 million. That was up from $240,798 in 2011, when the company has just $12.1 million in pre-tax income. D.R. Horton's fiscal year ends Sept. 30. 

Those compensation figures are calculated using The Associated Press' formula, which counts salary, bonus, non-equity incentive plan compensation, grants of plan-based awards and all other compensation, as listed on the company's proxy. 

-- Jim Fuquay

 

Familiar Fort Worth names on Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans list

With the exception of relocating Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton's residence from Parker County to Fort Worth (mistakenly, as far as we know), the Tarrant area members of Forbes magazine's annual list of the wealthiest Americans are pretty much unchanged this year. Walton is No. 8 on the 2012 list, with a net worth of $26.3 billion. (She listed her residence as 11500 Interstate 20, the address of her 3,200-acre Rocking W Ranch outside of Millsap, in October 2011 when she was charged with DUI on her way home from her 62nd birthday party in Fort Worth.) She's followed by investor Robert Bass (tied at No. 151 with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at $2.7 billion), investor David Bonderman (No. 170, $2.6 billion), investor Richard Rainwater (No. 206, $2.3 billion), brothers Ed and Lee Bass (tied at No. 239, $2 billion), and Sid Bass (No. 271, $1.8 billion). All have been on the list for years.

Dallas area residents on the list, in addition to Jones, include banker Andrew Beal, investor Harold Simmons, oilman and real estate developer Ray Lee Hunt, investor Robert Rowling, oilman Trevor Rees-Jones, investor H. Ross Perot Sr., oilman Timothy Headington, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, pipeline operator Kelcy Warren, banker Gerald J. Ford, Texas Rangers co-owner Ray Davis, real estate developer H. Ross Perot Jr., investor T. Boone Pickens, telecommunications operator Kenny Troutt, and online media developer Todd Wagner.

The complete list is here.

-- Jim Fuquay

 

Bob and Anne Bass spend $42 million for New York apartment

Fort Worth billionaire Robert M. Bass and wife Anne have paid $42 million for a co-op apartment in Manhattan that takes up half the 12th floor of its pre-World War II, Upper East Side building, according to New York media reports that cite deed records. According to the New York Observer, the property was originally listed at $34 million including furnishings, and at $42 million would have been the fourth most expensive residence sold in New York City last year.

It would be hard to spend that much on a home in Fort Worth. The Basses' Westover Hills residence, even at 16,500 square feet, is only valued at $8.35 million by the Tarrant Appraisal District. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's North Dallas manses checks in at a mere $17.6 million, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District.

The Basses' new neighbors at the 834 Fifth Ave. property include News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and Charles Schwab, the founder of his namesake investment company, according to Bloomberg News, which said Bass declined to comment through spokeswoman Marcia Horowitz.

-- Jim Fuquay

 

Laid-off execs finding jobs at same or higher levels, Right Management data says

Right Management, a career transition arm of Manpower,  says its data show that three of four laid-off executives who received Right Management services and got jobs in the first half this year landed posts at the same or higher levels.

The likelihood of landing a better job was higher for executives in the South, at 76 percent, compared to a 72 percent national average, Right Management said.

The firm analyzed data on nearly 600 senior-level positions, and includes titles such as general manager, director, vice president, senior vice president, executive VP, and CEO.

Right Management tips for executive-level jobseekers in today's market:

• "Get up to speed fast...Know the priorities and develop a plan for the first 30, 60 and 90 days."

• "Understand the culture of the prospective employer in advance of the interview."

• "Highlight in resume and during interviews how interpersonal and work skills will align with the company's culture."

The study was conducted Jan. 1-June. 30.

- Scott Nishimura, jobs and workplace reporter, Star-Telegram