Bankruptcy judge OKs over $25 million in bonuses to Sears execs

Sears is currently in bankruptcy and therefore had to petition the court for permission to pay out bonuses to its top executives — $8.4 million to 19 executives conditional on achieving set financial targets over the next six months, plus as much as $16.9 million in retention bonuses for an additional group of 315 senior execs. Judge Robert Drain of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York signed off on the request, accepting the argument that Sears needs to do whatever is necessary to convince the key employees not to jump ship.