Friday, October 03, 2008

Top 10 Reasons Taxpayers Just Spent a Cool $700 Billion

CEO's at the heart of the financial crisis:

RICHARD FUDE - Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc.

Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, has the distinction of being the executive behind the largest bankruptcy filing -- estimated at $613 billion -- in U.S. history.

ANGELO MOZILO - Countrywide Financial Corp.

Mozilo's tenure at Countrywide was marked by his "Friends of Angelo" VIP program that gave below-market rates to the CEO's best friends and several members of Congress.

KERRY KILLINGER - Washington Mutual Inc.

Killinger led Washington Mutual through sensational growth and into a slew of risky product offerings. The bank finally collapsed and sold its assets to J.P. Morgan Chase.

JAMES CAYNE - Bear Stearns

After 16 years as CEO at Bear Stearns, Cayne handed the reins to Alan D. Schwartz -- then watched the firm collapse.

DANIEL MUDD - Fannie Mae

Mudd was ousted from his post as Fannie Mae's CEO in September when the government placed the company into a conservatorship. He will not receive a severance package.

RICHARD SYRON - Freddie Mac

Syron was relieved of his duties as Freddie Mac CEO as part of the government's takeover of the troubled company in September.

MARTIN J. SULLIVAN - American International Group, Inc. (AIG)

Sullivan held the CEO post at AIG from 2005 through early 2008. The insurance company was propped up by an $85 billion loan from the U.S. government earlier this month.

STANLEY O'NEAL - Merrill Lynch & Co.

O'Neal retired from his post as Merrill Lynch CEO in October 2007 after huge subprime-related losses and writedowns. His successor, John Thain, orchestrated the firm's sale to Bank of America on the same day Lehman Brothers went under.

CHARLES PRINCE - Citigroup, Inc.

Prince stepped down from the CEO position at Citigroup in late 2007 after the company suffered billions in subprime writedowns.

KEN THOMPSON - Wachovia Corp.

Wachovia's board forced then-CEO Ken Thompson from his post in June as the bank struggled through subprime-related losses.


Thanks guys ...

.

4 comments:

Sue J said...

Yeah, thanks guys.

I'm confused about the final bill that the House approved -- first I heard it did not include caps on CEO pay, but last night on CBS they said it did. Does anyone know the answer?

I've tried to read the actual bills itself, but since it's written specifically so that taxpayers won't understand it, I gave up.

BAC said...

Sue, here is what the Washington Post says today:

The measure also limits paychecks for senior executives at firms participating in the program. Treasury may ban excessive salaries and bonuses, as well as multimillion-dollar severance packages known as "golden parachutes," for executives at firms that receive direct infusions of federal cash. Companies that sell damaged assets in the auctions also will be targeted: They will lose tax deductions if salaries for their top executives exceed $500,000 a year, and outgoing managers who take severance packages triple their annual salaries will be required to pay a 20 percent excise tax.


BAC

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clarification on CEO pay. I was wondering about that.

Nan said...

Anyone else feel the way I do, i.e., that I'd be happier with those photos if they were mug shots taken after a perp walk?