Victimology--Part 2

Since CEO Rayburn's "they made me do it" press release blaming the union for Hostess' demise, more information has been reported. The company was sold three times in the last 30 years racking up huge amounts of debt. Also the board awarded pay increases to executives.

This is from Thinkprogress.org:

Even as it blamed unions for the bankruptcy and the 18,500 job losses that will ensue, Hostess already gave its executives pay raises earlier this year. The salary of the company’s chief executive tripled from $750,000 to roughly $2.5 million, and at least nine other executives received pay raises ranging from $90,000 to $400,000. Those raises came just months after Hostess originally filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

Snopes.com has also confirmed a lot of information from several sources. Rayburn's salary did not increase 300%. It was the previous CEO. Rayburn came into the position after bankruptcy earlier this year.

There are some reports that he works for over $2 million a year. Some imply that some executives have cut their pay to $1 till this all gets sorted out. Bonuses have been approved to keep executives on.

In any case, the fall of Hostess has been building for a long time.