Faced with such a defeat, some executives his age would have retired.

Three agencies said yesterday that top executives would retire.

Five executives, including one executive vice president, have retired or resigned in the shuffle.

The company also said its chief executive was retiring for health reasons.

The suit was settled, and the executive later retired.

Hughes Aircraft's chairman and chief executive retired abruptly, 13 months after he took the posts.

The July rule, by contrast, called for putting the entire value of newly accounted options in the table, whether or not the executive could retire.

The companies simply delay delivering the new shares until the executive retires.

And that will remain his priority for years, possibly until the 58-year-old executive retires from United.

At one time, when chief executives retired, they could expect to remain on their company's board for a while and continue to receive a salary.