The Dividend Daily

Real estate investment trust (REIT), Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP) reported on Monday that CEO, Mortimer Zuckerman will be resigning from his position in the company.

Boston Properties, which is the largest U.S office REIT, reported that Mortimer Zuckerman will step down from his position as CEO and be replaced by former Lehman Brothers chairman, Owen Thomas. Zuckerman will remain executive chairman for the company.

Owen Thomas will take on his new position as BXP’s CEO on April 2. Thomas has overseen the liquidation of assets to repay creditors in the 2008 Lehman Brothers bankruptcy. He also was the head of the real estate division at Morgan Stanley (MS) from 1994 to 2005.

BXP was the worst performing REIT in the Bloomberg REIT Office Property Index in the past year. The REIT increased 1.7%, compared with the average 10% upside for the 16 REITs in the index.

Finding a appropriate CEO for the REIT has been the company’s focus and some were surprised with the outcome. Many believed BXP’s founder Ed Linde’s son, Douglas Linde, who is the president of the company would be offered the position.

Thomas will be paid $750,000 in base salary and a bonus expected to be 230% of his salary. He will also receive an equity grant worth $4.5 million, which will include stocks and options of the company.

Boston Properties shares were mostly flat during Tuesday morning trading. The stock has been mostly flat in the past year.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP) have a 2.51% yield, based on Tuesday morning’s price of $103.69.

Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.4 out of 5 stars.

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