Following accusations of sexual harassment by model Kate Upton, Guess cofounder Paul Marciano is temporarily relinquishing his pay and day-to-day responsibilities as the high-end fashion brand investigates the allegations.
Upton first came forward in a tweet about Marciano, and later detailed to Time how Marciano had allegedly groped her. Marciano has denied the claims.
It’s disappointing that such an iconic women’s brand @GUESS is still empowering Paul Marciano as their creative director #metoo
— Kate Upton (@KateUpton) January 31, 2018
Since Upton’s tweet first came out tagged with the MeToo hasthtag, shares of the publicly traded company have dropped roughly 22%.
That drop has also hit Paul Marciano’s net worth. Over the past two weeks, the executive has lost $52.8 million from his stake of about 12.7 million Guess shares and options exercisable over the next 60 days, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Similarly, former Wynn Resorts CEO Steve Wynn also saw his net worth slide millions following allegations of sexual harassment. Executives today receive much of their pay in shares of the company they run. Marciano, for instance, earned $4.3 million last year, $3.5 million of which came in the form of stock awards, according to SEC filings. The logic goes that when an executive runs their company well, the stock price ostensibly goes up—resulting in higher payouts not only for investors, but also for the head honchos. Of course when the stock falls, it’s also no small loss.
Notably, following the allegations, Wynn resigned from his company, and also lost out on his estimated $330 million severance package. He has also denied the allegations.
According to a press release from Guess, Marciano will relinquish his pay until a special committee of the board of directors completes its investigation into the sexual harassment allegations. Marciano will keep his titles as chief creative officer and executive chairman in the meantime.
