Hostess to Dole Out Up to $1.75M in Exec Bonuses

Hostess executives are in for a sweet finish: A federal bankruptcy judge yesterday gave the company the OK to hand out as much as $1.75 million in bonuses to 19 corporate officers and high-level managers. The bonuses are intended to serve as a carrot to keep these employees with the company during the liquidation process, and will be doled out only if they "achieve a set of specific tasks and goals within a specified time frame that are designed to speed and lower the cost of the wind-down," says a Hostess rep.

He notes that the maximum bonus amount falls below the average amount in similar bankruptcy cases, and that the bonuses wouldn't extend to CEO Greg Rayburn, who the AP notes is making $125,000 monthly. The judge also put the final nail in the company's coffin, granting it final approval to cease operations. The Los Angeles Times reports that Hostess already has a long line of potential bidders knocking on its door. It says it's in talks with 110 would-be buyers. Rumored to be among the group: Grupo Bimbo, the company behind Sara Lee and Entenmann's, and C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., the owner of the maker of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. (More Hostess stories.)