Citigroup apparently doled out $13 million to its Primerica Financial Services agents because it scrapped a boondoggle for them. From Bloomberg:
Citigroup Inc., the recipient of $45 billion in government rescue funds, doled out $13 million as compensation to employees whose trips to resorts the company was forced to scrap, two people familiar with the matter said.
Citigroup paid 1,900 agents of its Primerica Financial Services Inc. unit $5,000 each for missing a three-day stay at a Bahamas resort, the people said, speaking anonymously because the amounts aren’t public. Some 2,000 Smith Barney brokerage advisers got debit cards valued at $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000 for various canceled getaways. …
Primerica paid the agents, who are independent contractors, because they won a seven-month-long sales contest, the company said. “We were legally obligated to do so,” Susan Thomson, a Citi Holdings spokeswoman said. Primerica and Smith Barney, both profitable businesses, are part of Citi Holdings, a new unit of Citigroup.
Pina coladas for everyone at Citi!