Take-Two hit with shareholder lawsuit, creates severance plan for employees
by Alexander Sliwinski 
on Mar 11th 2008 4:00PM
Take-Two is not only
fighting off an EA takeover now, but also a
shareholder lawsuit alleging the company's management hid the EA buyout to enrich their own bank accounts. The suit lays out that days after Take-Two received the buyout offer from EA, the management approved a significant increase in compensation if a merger or takeover occurred. In terms of dollars, it means that
Strauss Zelnick's ZelnickMedia, which currently manages Take-Two, would make out with $16.5 million dollars, up from $3.8 million, if the company is sold.
Securities and Exchange Commission documents also show that Take-Two has created a severance plan for employees who could lose their jobs in a takeover. Employees will receive 1.5 times their salary and a bonus for 18 months. Observers note this is merely a "defensive move" to keep employees focused on their jobs and not looking for other work during the upheaval.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
