Why Government shouldn't bail out Corporate America and make some Corporate CEO's, CFO's accountable for their own mess. The Economy is in turmoil putting taxpayers on fears and speculations of the near future but the CEO's, CFO's living the High style with the outrageous and mega salaries.
This is the list of a few Corporate America CEO's, CFO's and their Mega Salaries.
Stanley O'Neal, Merrill Lynch
Following an $8.4 billion write-down at Merrill Lynch, the news that the head of the firm, Stanley O’Neal, would be leaving in late 2007 with more than $160 million in stock options and retirement perks in his pocket outraged many, from shareholders to legislators.
The previous year, O’Neal had been paid $46.4 million, making him the nation's second-highest paid executive in the country behind Lloyd C. Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs who made $54.3 million.
O’Neal was part of a group of corporate top dogs called to testify before Congress about excessive CEO pay. Merrill Lynch has since been taken over by Bank of America.
Angelo R. Mozilo, Countrywide Financial.
Angelo Mozilo built Countrywide Financial into the nation’s largest mortgage company and was paid handsomely during the real estate boom.
He fought against his own board’s attempts to cut back his pay by hiring a special consultant when things started going south in 2006.
His efforts paid off. In 2007, he took home $121.5 million from exercising stock options and compensation of over $22 million. This huge pay came in a year when the bottom dropped out of the housing market and Countrywide took a beating with a loss of $704 million and a nearly 80 percent skid in the company’s stock price.
The company was bought by Bank of America in July.
Richard Fuld, Lehman Bros.
In a New York Times opinion piece last month, Nicholas Kristof estimated that Lehman CEO Richard Fuld last year earned “roughly $17,000 an hour to obliterate a firm.”
That estimate was based on Fuld’s earnings in 2007 of more than $40 million.
Lehman Bros., the oldest of the Wall Street titans founded in 1850, filed for bankruptcy last month.
Fuld, who has been CEO of Lehman since 1993, was faulted by analysts for not taking acting quickly enough to deal with the firm's problems
James Cayne, Bear Stearns
Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne made more than $160 million before the company hit the skids and was sold off at a discount price to JPMorgan Chase as part of a government bailout earlier this year.
At one point Cayne was worth about $1 billion on paper, but when the Wall Street firm crumbled he sold his stake for a mere $61 million.
Cayne, known for being an obsessive bridge player, was supposedly at a bridge tournament and unable to be reached when two major hedge funds at the firm collapsed in 2007, the beginning of the end for the firm.
Richard Syron, Freddie Mac
Despite not heeding warnings from his own staff that the risky loans Freddie Mac had financed could hit the company hard, Richard Syron was expected to walk away with a pay package of more than $14 million.
Freddie Mac, a government-sponsored enterprise that operated as a private company, was wholly taken over by federal regulators last month and Syron was officially out of a job on Sept. 6. The government said it would not pay Syron the golden parachute he expected to receive as part of his pay package, but it’s still unclear how much he’ll end up pocketing.
Syron, an economist, joined Freddie Mac in 2003 after it was revealed the company had manipulated earnings to the tune of $5 billion
Daniel Mudd, Fannie Mae
It’s hard to imagine the chief executive of a company established by Congress to help citizens buy homes would end up getting a raise when the firm was losing money and the housing market was collapsing.
But that’s just what happened to Daniel Mudd at Fannie Mae, who saw his pay rise 7 percent in 2007 to more than $13 million.
Mudd’s promised golden parachute, worth nearly $10 million, is in question because federal regulators have said they will not pay. It is unclear how much he will get.
Kennedy Thompson, Wachovia
Wachovia former chairman and CEO Kennedy Thompson received $21 million in 2007.
Thompson, 58, joined Wachovia in 1976 and had been at its helm for the past eight years before being ousted in June. He will receive a severance package worth $8.7 million.
He’s succeeded by Robert Steel, who was expected to get a $1 million salary with an opportunity for a $12 million bonus.
It’s unclear what Steel will receive now given Citigroup’s decision to buy Wachovia’s banking operations this week in a deal brokered by federal regulators.
Kerry Killinger, Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual’s longtime CEO Kerry Killinger was let go early last month as the company's share price fell in what turned out to be a death spiral.
Killinger received compensation valued at $14.4 million in 2007.
Killinger was replaced by Alan Fishman, but now that JPMorgan Chase has stepped in to buy WaMu’s banking assets, there is a chance Fishman could walk away with more than $19 million in salary and severance after only a few weeks at the helm.
To be fair, Fishman wasn't the one that took WaMu down a path lined with toxic mortgages and other bad assets. No, that role belonged to former CEO Kerry Killinger, who received $54 million over five years before leaving earlier this month. He's eligible for around $20 million in severance pay.
Martin Sullivan, AIG
A few months before the government announced it would be taking over American International Group in mid-September, the insurer’s chief executive, Martin Sullivan, was ousted. His parting gift was a severance package worth nearly $50 million.
In 2007, Sullivan received compensation of about $14 million.
Sullivan left the firm after AIG wrote down $20 billion in losses because of the company’s exposure to subprime mortgages.
In a rare twist, Sullivan’s temporary successor Robert Willumstad took a pass on the $22 million he was promised in his contract.
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