Hertz Paid Top Executives $16 Million in Bonuses Ahead of Its Bankruptcy Filing

Hertz Paid Top Executives $16 Million in Bonuses Ahead of Its Bankruptcy Filing
A Hertz car rental agency stands in Manhattan, N.Y. on June 30, 2016. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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Hertz paid out millions of dollars in bonuses to its executives just before its bankruptcy—and a month after it started laying off thousands of employees.

Retention bonuses are typical for bankrupt companies that want to prevent their management from abandoning ship. But their always awkward: the company can’t pay its employees or its debts to lenders, but it prioritizes payments to its already handsomely paid bosses.