On 8/1/2015 6:11 AM, dsi1 wrote:
If any of these associations raised questions in the mind of George
Bush, Jr., he had little incentive to voice them. Besides getting Harken
stock through the deal, Junior was paid $80,000 a year as a consultant
(until 1989, when his wages were increased to $120,000; recently they
were reduced to $45,000). He was also allowed to borrow $180,375 from
the company at very low interest rates. In 1989 and 1990, according to
the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Harken's board
"forgave" $341,000 in loans to its executives. In addition, Junior took
advantage of the company's ultraliberal executive stock purchase plan,
which allowed him to buy Harken stock at 40 percent below market value.

Such lavish executive compensation would suggest a company doing quite
well indeed. But in reality, Harken had little going for itself. One
Wall Street analyst called Harken's web of insider stock deals and
mounting debt "a lot of jiggery-pokery." Harken was not making money and
could not have continued into 1990 without at least some means of
convincing lenders and investors that the company would soon find a lot
of oil.