A lawsuit was filed by a current investor in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties by certain directors and other NYSE:CAT should contact the Shareholders Foundation.

San Diego, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/05/2012 --An investor in shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) filed a lawsuit against directors and certain executive officers of Caterpillar Inc. over alleged breaches of fiduciary duties in connection with its executive-incentive plans.

Investors who are current long-term stockholders of shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation at mail(at)shareholdersfoundation.com or call +1(858) 779 - 1554.

The plaintiff alleges that the defendants wasted corporate funds by awarding and accepting incentive payments that were not tax-deductible as the board of directors had represented. The plaintiff estimated that the cash value, including stock options, of certain senior officials at Caterpillar Inc. could worth be as much as $87.21 million each under a long-term incentive plan.

The plaintiff claims that the defendants mislead investors about the allegedly faulty executive compensation plans. More specifically, the plaintiff says that Caterpillar's 2011 and 2012 Proxy Statements falsely represented that its executive compensation was performance-based and, therefore, tax deductible. The plaintiff says that members of the board of directors and certain executive officers have unjustly enriched themselves by taking compensation that is not tax-deductible and not sufficiently disclosed to the stockholder, to the detriment of the company.

Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) reported that its annual Revenue rose from over $32.39 billion in 2009 to over $60.13 billion in 2011 and its Net Income over the respective time periods increased from $8955 million to over $4.92 billion. Shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT) grew from as low as $23.23 in March 2009 to as high as $116 per share in February 2012.

The compensation of certain executives of Caterpillar Inc. increased significantly between 2009 and 2011. In fact, the Chairman and CEO’s total pay rose from over $2.9 million in 2009 to over $16.9 million in 2011 and the CFO’s total compensation increased from over $2.9 million in 2009 to over $5.8 million in 2011.

Since February NYSE CAT shares have lost substantially value and fell in in July to as low as $82.07 per share.

On September 4, 2012, NYSE:CAT shares closed at 82.66 per share, significantly less than its current 52 week High of $116.95 per share.

Those who are current long-term stockholders of shares of Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE:CAT), have certain options and should contact the Shareholders Foundation.

Contact:
Shareholders Foundation, Inc.
Trevor Allen
3111 Camino Del Rio North - Suite 423
92108 San Diego
Phone: +1-(858)-779-1554
Fax: +1-(858)-605-5739
mail@shareholdersfoundation.com