A little humor for the holiday…
How would you like to make a difference in the life of one needy
person? In the time it takes you to read this message, more than 1,000
individuals would have lost their livelihood.Like poor Wayne. Wayne is only 57 years old. His company was wiped
out by a typhoon–of defaulted sub-prime mortgages he approved.Today, he can barely afford Napoleon brandy. And everyday, he has to
walk more than 50 feet to his waiting limo. And now, Wayne may have
to give up weekends in Aruba and maybe even his expensive mistress–unless you help.For only $3,700 a day, you can ensure that Wayne, and CEOs just like
him, still get the bonuses they already approved for themselves.
That’s less than the cost of 1000 lattes. Without your help, they
might have trouble posting bail on the fraud charges they’ll most
certainly be facing.So pick up the phone, and sponsor an executive today. The money you
give won’t just save a life–it’ll save a lifestyle. Thank you for listening.
From Jan at Progressive Talk.
While I love the tongue-in-cheek humor here, its time to take a closer look at pay and severance packages for CEOs at investment houses, banks and mortgage lenders, who perversely stand to benefit from the public’s largesse.
Here’s a quick overview:
• Lehman Brothers Chairman and CEO Richard Fuld Jr. made $34 million in 2007. Lehman (OTC:LEHMQ) filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection earlier this month. Fuld also sold nearly a half-billion –$490 million – from selling LEH stock;
• Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS)paid its Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein $70 million last year. Co-Chief Operating Officers Gary Cohn and Jon Winkereid were paid $72.5 million and $71 million, respectively.
• Bears Sterns (BSC JPM)former chairman Jimmy Cayne, rescued by a $29 billion Fed shotgun wedding to JPM, received $60 million when he was replaced;
• American International Group (AIG) chief executive Martin Sullivan got a $14 million compensation package in 2007. He was ousted in June. The insurance giant (NYSE:AIG) is on the receiving end of an $85 billion federal bailout. Robert Willumstad was handed $7 million for his three months at the helm. (Edward Liddy took over as AIG’s chief executive earlier this month).
• Morgan Stanley (MS) Chairman John Mack earned $1.6 million + stock. Chief Financial Officer Colin Kelleher got a $21 million paycheck in 2007. Morgan Stanley also received an expedited approval to become a banking holding company in 48 hours — that’s record time.
• Countrywide Financial’s (CWF BAC) founder & CEO Angelo Mozilo, which has been at the forefront of the subprime fiasco, cashed in $122 million in stock options in 2007; His total take is estimated at over $400 million dollars;
• Stanley Neal, who steered Merrill Lynch (NYSE:MER) into financial collapse before being taken over by Bank of America, was given a package of $160 million when he left his post last year; That package makes current CEO John Thain was paid $17 million in salary, bonuses and stock options in 2007 look like a bargain.
• Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) is acquiring Merrill. BofA CEO Kenneth Davis brought home $25 million in 2007.
• JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chairman and CEO James Dimon earned $28 million in 2007. Chase acquired troubled investment house Bear Stearns earlier this year with the federal reserve backstopping $29 billion in Bear assets to help get the deal done.
• Fannie Mae (FNM) CEO Daniel Mudd received $11.6 million in 2007. His counterpart at Freddie Mac (FRE) Richard Syron, brought in $18 million. Federal government is taking over the mortgage backers with Herbert Allison to serve as Fannie CEO and David Moffett the new CEO at Freddie.
• Wachovia Corp. (WB) Chairman and CEO G. Kennedy Thompson received $21 million in 2007. He was succeeded by Robert Steel as CEO in July. Steel is slated to get a $1 million salary with an opportunity for a $12 million bonus, according to CEO Watch. Wachovia (NYSE:WB) is one of the banks that could be sold in the midst of the financial crisis.
• Seattle-based Washington Mutual (WM) will pay its new CEO Alan Fishman a salary and incentive package worth more than $20 million through 2009 for taking the helm of the battered bank, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal.
Not only are these statistics not funny, I find them highly offensive. Does anyone really need more money than they can possibly spend in a lifetime?
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:04 pm
This is from Canada’s The Rick Mercer Report. It would’ve been nice if you credited it.
December 24th, 2009 at 5:12 am
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