Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein: A $74 Million <em>Bargain</em>?

Goldman's Lloyd Blankfein: A $74 Million?

At $74 million a year, Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein may be a Wall Street bargain.

The 53-year-old Blankfein caught a lot of flak when Goldman unveiled it had paid him about $314,894 each working day in fiscal 2007. Investors, quickly forgetting that Blankfein had successfully steered Goldman through the subprime storm, producing profits that were the envy of Wall Street, staged a rebellion of sorts. A proposal that would give shareholders a say in CEO pay captured a stunning 43% of the shareholder vote at the investment bank's recent annual meeting. The usually unflappable Blankfein was forced to go on the offensive. Endearing himself to investors, he said he didn't want anyone "less sophisticated" in the financial industry making decisions on his pay.

Perhaps he has a point. Goldman's savvy board members may be the best judges of Blankfein's compensation. And given their performance so far, they haven't done a bad job.

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