In short order, the shareholders of Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM) have lost billions. A tier-1 private equity investor, TPG, has lost $1.3 billion on the company. And, unfortunately, thousands of WaMu employees have lost their jobs.
However, there are some winners. For example, there are the short sellers. JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) is also likely to do well since the firm bought WaMu's assets for a mere $1.9 billion.
But there appears to be yet another interesting beneficiary: Alan Fishman. He is WaMu's CEO, who took the top job 18 days ago.
As should be no surprise, he signed a juicy contract: a $7.5 million signing bonus and a lump-sum payment for severance that comes to $6.15 million. In other words, if he leaves the company, he'll walk away with $13.65 million.
That's a pretty good deal in light of the fact that WaMu is the biggest bank collapse ever.
Moreover, I suppose it is yet further evidence of why Americans have low regard for the financial system. And despite huge bailouts, it's probably a good bet that little will change.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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