Exec Appears Drunk with Power (Editorial)

We can’t help wondering if million-dollar salaries just drive some people insane.

Take Tom Coughlin for example.

Wal-Mart’s No. 2 executive knocked down about $13 million in fiscal 2004 while allegedly pilfering everything from boxer shorts to beer from the world’s largest retailer.

Perhaps he thought it was the equivalent of how some people take an occasional pen or notebook from the office, or writing off a lunch that wasn’t really business related.

But Coughlin’s nickel and diming added up to $223,709, according to the lawsuit. It included $1,350 for “hornback gator” cowboy boots and $2,480 for a Beretta shotgun.

The behavior wasn’t exactly disguised either. His lackeys were in on it, fetching things from the local Wal-Mart back to hunting camps in south Texas where Coughlin was holding court.

To many Wal-Mart employees, big Tom Coughlin was bigger than life. He was the standard bearer of the Wal-Mart culture instilled by founder Sam Walton.

But he quickly becomes a comic figure when pictured wearing sunglasses, watching a Chris Farley CD, drinking Bloody Marys and singing into a $107 karaoke machine — all of which were items he purchased during his seven-year shopping spree with Wal-Mart gift cards.

The honest employees of Wal-Mart must be shocked, and rightfully so. The ones we know won’t take a free meal or glass of wine. They tow the line. But, then again, they don’t make a million dollars a year.