- 36 - had annual sales of only approximately $60 million during the relevant years, it does not appear that any company included in the ECS survey data had annual sales of less than $150 million.22 Petitioner relies on the opinions of Bruce W. Barren, Ph.D. (Dr. Barren), the chairman of an international merchant banking firm, and Joseph D. Vinso, Ph.D. (Dr. Vinso), the president of a business valuation and consulting firm. We are unwilling to rely on the analyses or opinions of either of petitioner's experts. In his expert report, Dr. Barren analyzed the various factors outlined by the Court of Appeals in Elliotts, Inc. v. Commissioner, 716 F.2d 1241 (9th Cir. 1983), and concluded that the compensation paid to Mr. Ruf was reasonable. Dr. Vinso also applied the factors identified by the Court of Appeals in the Elliotts case and expressed his opinion as to whether the weight of those factors shows that the compensation paid by petitioner to Mr. Ruf was reasonable. That is not the role of an expert, see Marx & Co. v. Diners' Club Inc., 550 F.2d 505, 508-511 (2d 22 Although Mr. Brennan conducted a telephone survey to deter- mine the accuracy of his results, we did not find the telephone survey to be reliable or probative of comparable compensation. In conducting his telephone survey, Mr. Brennan simply inquired whether any of the companies he called paid their respective CEOs compensation in excess of $500,000. However, there was no dis- cussion during those telephone discussions of what constituted compensation or whether the work performed by the CEO of each of those companies was comparable to the work performed by Mr. Ruf. Nor does the record establish that the companies Mr. Brennan surveyed by telephone were totally candid and forthcoming about information relating to their respective CEOs' compensation.Page: Previous 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 Next
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