Former Levi Boss Pocketed Millions

Levi Strauss & Co. paid its outgoing president and chief operating officer $105.8 million for his stock options when it held its second leveraged buyout a year ago, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

The revelation came just a week after the company announced plans to close 11 plants in four states and fire 6,395 workers because demand for its jeans is declining.

Company records show that Thomas Tusher, who saw the company through its most profitable times before retiring last year, received $105.8 million in accumulated stock options in the buyout plus $21.5 million as a “gross tax offset bonus” to help him cover the resulting taxes, the paper said.

Levi spokesman Clarence Grebey would not confirm the exact amount, saying only that Tusher received sizable options.

But he said it is unfair to link the layoffs with Tusher’s stock options because the two are unrelated.

“The anger and confusion is very justifiable,” Grebey said. But the two “have absolutely nothing to do with each other.”