NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) – Sonic Automotive Inc (SAH.N), which operates 95 U.S. car dealerships, started laying off and furloughing about a third of its workforce as the coronavirus pandemic crushed its sales. Then it changed its executives’ pay packages – handing them a multimillion-dollar windfall. FILE PHOTO: Christopher Nassetta, the President and CEO of Hilton, participates in a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and tourism industry executives on coronavirus (COVID-19) response within the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis/File Photo On April 10, Sonic’s board gave its top executives stock options to replace performance-based share awards, regulatory filings show. The options it gave Chief Executive David Smith, whose family controls the company, are now worth about $5.16 million – more than four times the value of the performance-based stock awards he got last year. Some of Sonic’s terminated employees, meanwhile, face hard times.

U.S. firms shield CEO pay as pandemic hits workers, investors – Reuters