Pay For Execs At Bailed Out Banks 40% Higher Than Peers: Report

The heads of the 20 banks that have received the biggest government bailouts were paid nearly 40 percent more last year than other CEOs, a study released today shows.

As Bloomberg noted in its piece, "average CEO pay was 430 times larger than for typical workers" and at nine of those 20 banks the value of stock options has soared $90 million this year, based on the study's examination of corporate proxy statements.

Collectively, those 20 banks have laid off more than 160,000 employees since the start of 2008, according to the study by the Institute for Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. On average, those CEOs earned nearly $14 million last year; CEOs of Standard & Poor's 500 companies were paid an average of about $10 million in 2008.

The top five executives at those 20 banks collectively earned $3.2 billion from 2006 to 2008.

"Unfortunately, despite this new and broad consensus over the dangers inherent in excessive executive renumeration, the denizens of our nation's executive suites still go about their business with the same visions of compensation sugarplums that danced in their heads before last September," the authors wrote.

Read the study below.

EE09final -

Comments

[Realsecman]

WHILE THERE ARE COUNTLESS IDEAS FOR STOPPING OR 'CURBING' MASSIVE EXECUTIVE PAY PACKAGES, MOST FAIL, BECAUSE OF BOARD'S OVERSITE AND STOCK BUYING PUBLIC. THAT'S NOT THE REAL PROBLEM.
IF A COMPANY PAYS ANY ONE EXECUTIVE CEO MORE THAN $500,000 IN ANY YEAR, THEN THAT COMPANY NO LONGER NEEDS OR SHOULD RECEIVE ANY TAX RELATED DEDUCTIONS OF ANY KIND, AT ALL. THE ENTIRE PUBLIC IS LIKELY AWARE OF THE 'WHO YOU KNOW' PORTION OF ACCESS TO MASSIVE PAY PACKAGES. IT'S JUST THAT WITH MILLIONS OF BUISINESS MBA GRADS AROUND, NO SINGLE CEO HAS AN EDGE ON THE NEXT. IT'S SIMPLE, 'WHO YOU KNOW'
. THERE ARE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF MAJORS WHO COULD RUN ALMOST ANY COMPANY. IF IT'S PUBLICLY TRADED AND THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS ARE RAIDING FOR PERSONAL, ENDLESS WEALTH, JUST STOP IT.
LIMIT THEM AND FORCE THEM BACK TO THE REAL WORLD. ONE MILLION A YEAR IS OUTRAGEOUS ON IT'S OWN, BUT THAT WOULD BE A GOOD MAX, FOR THESE DIRECTORS OF PUBLIC COMPANIES THAT ARE NOT OWNED BY THEM, ONLY MANAGED.

[berrycooda]

Washington...

Home of the giant CREDIT CARD...
Available for everybody but those who really need a hand out.

Maybe we can have a giant yard sale and get rid of some of the
junk America doesn't need.

Start with all the perks that Washington & the Congress have taken.
No reason why they need that much.

[TraderMark1]

9 dogmatic reasons CEOs say they deserve to be paid at 430:1 to the peon class.

http://www.fundmymutualfund.com/2009/09/ceo-pay-at-tarp-banks-37-higher-than.html

[research]

so true.

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

Obviously, time to cap the excessive salaries, and force the crooks to work somewhere else.

[kizzie]

Personally, I think the bailout was a scam---the last chance to get paid back by the Bush administration. Sad that Obama fell into the trap in the excitement of it all, and didn't do anything to protect the people who have to pay the price for generations. Seems some true contemplation would have been appropriate--it all happened too fast to be real.
How can it be that with this massive bailout, that most of them have paid it back and made billions in the last few months to top it off---hmmmmm.
Funny how all this happened just as Bush was leaving office---hmmmm.

[factotem]

Bush had emptied the treasury with his tax refunds, and couldn't get his grubby, ret^rded paws on Social Security ...so he gave a deficit cash-grab to the banks.

Remember Bushie saying "We MUST have a bailout in the next 3 days or the world will collapse irretrievably Give Hank Paulson a blank check to do what he has to, no questions asked and with no enforcable punishments."
And then congress camed down, backed away and it took two or three more weeks.

[FoonTheElder]

While you struggle at your job while your wage and financial security drops every day, there is a group of Americans who are benefitting from your struggle. THE WELFARE KINGS!

The welfare kings drive their Cadillacs to the Wall Street welfare office to pick up their bloated checks that was paid with your tax money. They then head over to the Wall Street Casino to gamble with their bloated checks.

They don't worry about losing money because, as welfare kings, they know that you, the taxpayer, will make up for their losses. On the other hand, if they win, they keep the money! Heads they win, tails you lose.

Their only incentive is to go have fun on the government dole. Some would tell you that this is just an exception, that most Wall Street firms on big corporate welfare act responsibly. But then again, why should they when failure is rewarded handsomely. When you reward failure, why is it a surprise when you get more failure?

[NORBIT]

This Administration is Bought & Paid for by GOLDMAN SACHS!

Where's all the credit available to Main Street that we were promised when the Pelosi-Reid Congress passed the TARP theft?

Follow the Money! - not Barry's preacher-like happy talk.

Watch what THEY DO....Not what THEY SAY!!!

[Chaizelda]

I'm not sure about whether the bailouts were right or wrong, since my first concern is whether the U.S. economy can be rescued. What happens to this or that corporation isn't my concern so much as what happens to American jobs. It is clear that there should be legal limits about what CEO's are allowed to do including the giving of bonuses. After all, we put limits on the leaders we elect, shouldn't we have limits on leaders we don't elect? I also have doubts about the term "Repugnicans". I might like "Repugnantcans" better.

[ko2ko2]

I don't blame them, we give them all this money why shouldn't they steal more? I blame the govt for bailing them out, let them fail and be divided up to smaller banks, that's what the fdic is for...

[mudshark12]

What a revolting development! This "Let them eat cake!" attitude has got to go. Effing fat cat CEO's need to realize that if they break the economy with such exorbitant bonuses then shortly their cash won't be worth trash.

[tuberider]

They deserve it. They tip better! I'm Sheila and I'm available!

[FreedomCorpse]

they make more than the other overpaid execs elsewhere, great..

[globality]

It would be interesting to see what the ratio was the year before that. That is the only way to correctly use the data given

[nopilikia]

It's obivious America voted for change but is getting more of the same. There was a saying many, many years ago. Money talks and BS walks. I fear Americans looking for a decent wage, decent health care, and the American dream will be walking for a long, long time. So far this administration and Congress has provided alot of BS on were trillions of our taxpayer has gone and nothing more.

[Tiggy]

I would like to see a recent comparison between US Ceo's and International Ceo pay too. There are often contractual clauses that allow pay to be commensurate upon cash flow. In kind, there should be a clause nullifying that clause if in fact lay offs occurred. Absent that nullification clause it benefits the CEO to lay people off and as we know, greed prevails. The tax dollars bailed out the banks and the CEO pay by picking up the tab for those laid off! What a world we live in. I don't know how any CEO who was responsible for laying off people can in good conscience accept a bonus.
And for the our fearless leaders in Washington, since the money has been consolidated amongst the few, how much has the economy improved? How much has government spending increased to compensate incomes for those out of work? While the GOP can spew venom that increased spending is a result of DEMs in charge, the spending is a direct result of the GOP policy! And the DEMs sit on the hill and criticize these CEO's and do little else to solve the problem. Let's put aside such childish bickering and find solutions that works for all of AMERICA!

[nopilikia]

I can't remember exactly but highest was 40 times in either Japan or Great Britian. Other countries were less.