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U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Sherrod Brown today aimed a spotlight on the motives underpinning the proposed U.S. Steel-Nippon deal, questioning whether CEO David Burritt’s personal stake in the outcome is blinding him to its risks.
‘Repulsive Conflict of Interest’
Noting Burritt’s $72 million potential payout, Warren and Brown asked directly about his intentions, particularly his threat to move U.S. Steel’s headquarters out of Pittsburgh and kill thousands of jobs if the deal with Nippon Steel falls through.
“If these reports are accurate,” they wrote, “they demonstrate a repulsive conflict of interest in which U.S. Steel executives can enrich themselves at the expense of U.S. Steel workers.”
Pointed Questions
The letter ends with a series of questions for Burritt seeking to clarify how much total compensation U.S. Steel’s top executives plan to take away from the transaction. They also challenged the CEO to explain how the merger morphed from a marriage of equals into Nippon being the only way to keep the company afloat.
“U.S. Steel was not in distress when it first received an unsolicited bid, and it is not in distress today,” they wrote.
We encourage you to read the full letter as together we continue our fight to curb corporate greed and keep U.S. Steel domestically owned and operated.
Mike Millsap
District 7 Director & Chairman of the Negotiating Committee
David McCall
International President