Continue reading Goldman Sachs discusses pay with major investors

Goldman Sachs discusses pay with major investors originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's easy to save the world when you've already taken care of yourself. But, we rely on these mavericks -- the wealthy who realize they can make a difference -- to do what we cannot on our own. So, it comes as a relief that Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft (MSFT) believes executive compensation is still too high.

It's a murky topic, and some forms of regulation, Gates believes, won't help. In a discussion on philanthropy at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan, where many of the people Gates criticized send their kids for early education, the former CEO and still rich guy cites the $1 million executive salary cap required by law in 1993 as a big mistake. While compensation has to be controlled, he believes this measure backfired and thinks that other, similar efforts are doomed to fail now.

Continue reading Rich still too richly compensated according to richest of them all

Rich still too richly compensated according to richest of them all originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Andrew Hall does not deserve $100 million from Citigroup

Andrew Hall does not deserve $100 million from Citigroup originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Who is ready for their morning dose of anger? That is what I thought this morning when I found out about the higher pay at some investment banks following the recent bailouts. Well, let me qualify that -- it isn't necessarily higher pay, but some execs will receive the same amount as they did before the bailouts. Some Wall Street firms, enjoying improving profits are on track to "pay employees as much as, or even more than, it did in the pre-crisis days." The top six U.S. banks have set aside $74 billion to pay employees, up from $60 billion last year, according to the Washington Post.

Continue reading Wall Street pay is higher than pre-crisis levels

Wall Street pay is higher than pre-crisis levels originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Obama wants a non-binding vote on executive pay originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Obama picks a Washington lawyer to set executive pay standards

Obama picks a Washington lawyer to set executive pay standards originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading SEC may force companies to disclose pay of lower-ranking employees

SEC may force companies to disclose pay of lower-ranking employees originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 05 Jun 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Yahoo! executives receive smaller bonuses

Yahoo! executives receive smaller bonuses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 01 May 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading CEOs to shareholders: Do you think I'm overpaid?

CEOs to shareholders: Do you think I'm overpaid? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On Monday, the stock market rose 498 points -- a move that many attributed to the announcement over the weekend of a plan to buy $1 trillion in toxic waste that uses government loans to lure investors -- such as hedge funds -- into buying extremely risky securities.

That sounds like the same thing that got us into the financial crisis in the first place. It also sounds like the sort of thing that hedge funds do for a living -- and those hedge funds are making a handful of skilled people into billionaires.

Continue reading Will $1 trillion toxic waste plan enrich hedge fund billionaires?

Will $1 trillion toxic waste plan enrich hedge fund billionaires? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Australia clamps down on CEO pay the right way

Australia clamps down on CEO pay the right way originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading 'Golden coffins' getting a second look

'Golden coffins' getting a second look originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bank of America compensation committee can't muster much criticism

Bank of America compensation committee can't muster much criticism originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription required) that "More than 40 financial firms have been hit with pay-related proposals, including Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS). Most of the targets are recipients of government capital from the Troubled Asset Relief Program."

This is great news and represents an increase of more than 60% over last year, according to RiskMetrics. Of course, it doesn't matter nearly as much as it should: The "say on pay" votes are really just advisory: All that they do is put a little box on the proxy ballot where shareholders can say how they feel about their company's egregious executive pay practices.

Continue reading Shareholder proposals on executive pay slam financials

Shareholder proposals on executive pay slam financials originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Can President Obama force CEOs to take a massive pay cut? While many others in the economy -- particularly the millions of regular Joes and Janes who have lost their jobs -- are helping to push down wages, CEOs have been immune from the pay cuts. But if Obama forces CEOs who take government money to limit their pay to $500,000 -- 25% more than Obama takes in -- will that cause all CEO pay to tumble? I think the answer is "no."

Why? Many reasons. First, no CEO in his or her right mind would volunteer to take government money given the ensuing pay cut. For example, if the CEO of a car company made $14 million in 2008, why would that same CEO volunteer to make $500,000 in 2009? Instead, the CEO would seek a position with a company that did not take government money and therefore did not limit the CEO's pay.

Continue reading CEO pay in a deflationary spiral?

CEO pay in a deflationary spiral? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Ambac pays execs $3 million in undeserved bonuses

Ambac pays execs $3 million in undeserved bonuses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just when you think you've heard it all, you hear more. In the last year, Wall Street -- or more specifically, the brokerage units of New York financial companies -- lost $35 billion. (Worldwide, financial institutions have taken $1 trillion in write-offs of bad assets). Those firms received a large proportion of the $350 billion TARP and persuaded the Treasury to guarantee losses from hundreds of billions worth of their financial toxic waste. Their reward? $18.4 billion in bonuses.

How much of the TARP went to paying for those bonuses? The banks have cleverly neglected to report that. But let's face it -- money is fungible. So if they did not use the money from the deposits they received from the Treasury to pay bonuses, our tax dollars freed up cash they may have had from other sources that did go to paying those $18.4 billion in bonuses.

Continue reading Wall Street loses $35 billion in 2008, uses TARP for $18.4 billion bonus

Wall Street loses $35 billion in 2008, uses TARP for $18.4 billion bonus originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

An era of greed that began with the election of Ronald Reagan has come to an abrupt end. That means that the seething emotions of greed and envy that come along with bonus time at investment banks will have fewer dollars attached to them. And talent will flow to government and academia rather than Wall Street. This could be good for the U.S.

Some of those masters of the universe in the investment banking industry have seen the value of their stock tumble (and many of them are going without bonuses this year). Here are some of the "casualties":

Continue reading Masters of the universe take a pay cut

Masters of the universe take a pay cut originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bBACbailoutexecutive compensationexecutive payExecutiveCompensationExecutivePayfeaturedGSjohn thainJohnThainlloyd blankfeinLloydBlankfeinmerrill lynchMerrillLynchvikram panditVikramPanditwall streetWallStreetTue, 27 Jan 2009 11:40:00 ESThttp://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/23/starbucks-brass-didnt-receive-bonuses-for-2008/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/23/starbucks-brass-didnt-receive-bonuses-for-2008/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2009/01/23/starbucks-brass-didnt-receive-bonuses-for-2008/#commentsFiled under: Management, Starbucks (SBUX)
Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) CEO Howard Schultz and the company's other top executives did not earn bonuses for 2008 as the company's fortunes deteriorated.

Schultz's compensation package declined to $9.7 million from $10.6 million in 2007. According to the proxy statement, Schultz will be taking a long-term stock option grant in lieu of bonuses for the current fiscal year as well.

That all sounds good but in March, the company will be asking its shareholders to approve a plan that would allow executives to trade in their underwater stock options for a smaller number of new ones with a lower strike price. Ordinarily this is the kind of thing that drives executive pay hawks nuts but in this case it might be fair.

Starbucks fortunes have declined along with the rest of the restaurant industry because of an unprecedented rout in consumer spending. There have also been some significant missteps leading up to that mess, but the company's low stock price is partly a result of factors beyond Schultz and company's control. If the options are not repriced, executives could be tempted to bold for competitors who are offering options grants priced based on current low valuations.

The exchange ratios also seem fair. For instance, executives with options with strike prices of $35 or higher will be able to trade those in for new ones based on the price of around $9 per share: But they'll receive 1/15.5th the number of options.

Starbucks brass didn't receive bonuses for 2008 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>coffeeexecutive payExecutivePayhoward schultzHowardSchultzinthenewsSBUXStarbucksFri, 23 Jan 2009 09:30:00 ESThttp://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/22/credit-suisse-hands-out-illiquid-junk-for-bonuses/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/22/credit-suisse-hands-out-illiquid-junk-for-bonuses/http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/12/22/credit-suisse-hands-out-illiquid-junk-for-bonuses/#commentsFiled under: Management, Employees
With bonuses down big across Wall Street as the market meltdown send income statements deep into the red, a lot of investment bankers aren't going to be too pleased with their bonuses this year.

Credit Suisse is trying something a little bit different. Credit Suisse will be paying it bankers their bonuses with a combination of the usual cash and nearly impossible to trade junk bonds: the kind of garbage that banks have been trying to sell to the Treasury Department to dump the liquidity problem onto taxpayers.

I like this plan: If the bonds really are just illiquid -- and not total crap, as I'm inclined to suspect -- then the bankers will make out like bandits in a few years when credit markets stabilize and liquidity returns.

Another part of Credit Suisse's bonus program is generating some controversy: a portfolio of the cash bonuses paid out will have a "clawback" provision requiring that they be repaid if the employee leaves within two years. According (subscription required) to The Wall Street Journal, this could lead to some lawsuits

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is: As long as employees are notified of the terms of their pay package before they do the work, the banks can pay them whatever/however they want.

They should be happy to be receiving bonuses at all.

Credit Suisse hands out illiquid junk for bonuses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>Credit SuisseCreditSuisseCSFBexecutive payExecutivePayInthenewsinvestment bankingInvestmentBankingMon, 22 Dec 2008 11:29:00 EST