Opinion: Searching questions

OPINION: Whether or not she's motivated by revenge, or just a desire to get it all off her chest, even the most trenchant critics of former Telecom chief executive Theresa Gattung would have to admit she had a good point when she laid into the company about its executive pay levels.

This poacher-turned-gamekeeper knows what she is talking about. She is, without a doubt, the most successful businesswoman of her generation.

A marketing whiz with the gift of the gab, in 1999 she smashed the glass ceiling for women in New Zealand business when she took the job at what, for a long time, was our biggest listed company.

While she no doubt did a huge amount as a role model to other women, she will always be best known to New Zealanders as the woman who went to the top and got an enormous pay package. The name Gattung and the word "overpaid" are hardwired into the national consciousness.

Ms Gattung's timing is impeccable. As Telecom stumbles along from one public relations disaster to another – whether it be the repeated failures of the seemingly doomed XT network or 111 call problems – Ms Gattung is happy to point out that Paul Reynolds, her successor at Telecom, is paid much more than she ever was and the rate of pay for the top team at the company is substantially more than it was during her tenure.

That is in spite of the fact that Telecom is now a much smaller company, making half the profits of a few years ago. Ten years ago Telecom's shares were worth around $8, five years ago they were worth $6, and yesterday they were trading at about $2.20.

Superb marketer that she is, Ms Gattung has ensured the book is in the headlines by launching a few well aimed missiles.

Telecom investors who read the book will no doubt be looking for answers to a few key questions. While Telecom has struggled since Dr Reynolds took over, it will be interesting to read Ms Gattung's insights into why its share price halved during her tenure.

It will also be interesting to learn what she was thinking when she announced that the Helen Clark Labour Government would be way "too smart to do anything dumb" like ending Telecom's monopoly on local phone lines. Sure enough, the "dumb" Government did just that. She might also be keen to explain the wisdom of admitting that companies such as Telecom had deliberately used pricing confusion as a chief marketing tool and that customers knew her company had not been "straight up" with them.

Of two things we can be certain. The first is that Dr Reynolds will be hard pressed to earn his massive bonus this year. The second is that Ms Gattung's memoirs will be well read.

- © Fairfax NZ News