$1 A Year

Ford’s CEO agrees to a paycut:

Ford Motor became the first of the three U.S. automakers to unveil its turnaround plans to Congress Tuesday, but the plan contained little in the way of new cost cuts or other changes beyond what the company had previously announced.

The company announced that the salary of Ford CEO Alan Mulally would be cut to $1 a year if Ford (F, Fortune 500) actually borrowed money from the government. When Mulally appeared before the House Financial Services Committee last month, he said he would not agree to a paycut.

Ford also announced that it would sell its five corporate jets. Mulally and the CEOs of General Motors (GM</a>, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC received great criticism for each flying their own corporate jets to Washington to ask for help last month.

Of course there is no mention of bonuses. That’s always the catch-22 in these deals. “Sure I’ll work for $1 a year, but I want a $50 million bonus”. Hopefully Congress holds their feet to the fire.