Greenbrier firm and former CEO settle perks and payments charges with feds

Transportation manufacturer The Greenbrier Companies and founder William Furman will pay $1 million and $100,000, respectively, to settle federal charges over undisclosed perks, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday.

The SEC had charged the defendants for failing to disclose the full extent of perks provided to Mr. Furman and other executives, and for failing to disclose payments made by Greenbrier to Mr. Furman for the company’s lease of his jet.

Mr. Furman served as CEO of Greenbrier from 1994 until March 2022, and as chairman from 2014 to September 2022. During his time with Greenbrier, Mr. Furman leased out his jet to a third party, an aircraft management company.

The SEC said that, between fiscal years 2017 and 2021, Greenbrier paid $3 million to the management company to charter Mr. Furman’s jet for business travel, but did not disclose that Mr. Furman received $1.6 million of that amount.

The SEC also found that Greenbrier failed to disclose approximately $320,000 in perks provided to Mr. Furman and other executives between fiscal years 2017 and 2020.

These perks pertained mainly to travel expenses for the executives’ spouses to attend various customer and industry events. Around $179,000 went specifically to Mr. Furman’s security and travel expenses for his spouse, according to an SEC document.

Neither Mr. Furman nor Greenbrier admitted to or denied the SEC’s findings. In addition to the financial penalty, both defendant parties agreed to cease and desist from violating securities law in the future.