According to an article on Reuters, written by Liz Hampton, “How a Texas shale supplier’s founders made fortunes as the firm failed,” the board of directors at Hi-Crush granted nearly $3 million in bonuses to four top executives, including $1.35 million for CEO and founder Robert Rasmus. Five days later, the company declared bankruptcy.
The payout marked the latest in a series of board decisions that allowed the oilfield supplier’s top executives and founders to rake in tens of millions of dollars as shareholders saw the stock price plummet to pennies.
The three-member independent board has since 2013 included two people with close ties to Rasmus: John Kevin Poorman, a former next-door neighbor in Illinois, according to deed records; and John Affleck-Graves, who until 2019 was the chief financial officer of the University of Notre Dame, Rasmus’ alma mater and a recipient of his donations.