In the five years since he became CEO of Citigroup Inc., Vikram Pandit has earned about $260-million, including about $165-million that Citigroup paid to purchase Mr. Pandit’s Old Lane Partners LP hedge fund in 2007, before he became Citigroup CEO. Mr. Pandit resigned on Tuesday. (BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS)
In 2007, Lehman Brothers chairman and CEO Richard Fuld earned $34.4-million, mostly in stock and options but also salary and bonus. At the 2008 Congressional hearings investigating the causes of the financial crisis, he was forced to defend the $484-million he had received in total compensation since 2000, thus becoming the poster boy for Wall Street greed. (JONATHAN ERNST/REUTERS)
Former Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O’Neal collected $161.5-million in exit pay when he resigned in 2007, according to Equilar, a California-based executive compensation firm. Mr. O’Neal was among the financial executives summoned before Congress for questioning about the huge compensation they earned during the sub-prime mortgage boom. (CHIP EAST/REUTERS)
The nearly $64-million retirement pay – $53-million pension and $10.6-million in deferred compensation – of former Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis could have rivalled Mr. O’Neal’s, analysts say, had he left BoA before financial stocks deteriorated. Mr. Lewis resigned in late 2009. In 2007, he earned $20.4-million, including stock, options and a $4.3-million bonus. In 2008, he earned $9-million. (BEBETO MATTHEWS/AP)
John J. Mack – known as “Mack the Knife” for his cost-cutting and job-slashing abilities – resigned as CEO of Morgan Stanley on Jan. 2, 2010. In 2006, he earned $41.4-million, which included stocks worth $36.2-million and $4-million in options. In 2008, his total compensation was $1.2-million. (LAWRENCE JACKSON/AP)
John Thain – nicknamed “Superman” by some for his resemblance to Clark Kent – was the last chairman and CEO of Merrill Lynch before its merger with Bank of America. He resigned on Jan. 22, 2009. In 2007, he earned $83.8-million, including a $15-million bonus and stocks and options worth $68-million. In early 2008, while at Merrill, he spent $1.2-million of corporate cash to renovate his office and adjacent rooms, including $35,000 for a gold-plated commode and more than $1,000 for a parchment wastebasket. (SHANNON STAPLETON/REUTERS)
to get it and come back to see the ad in front of this gallery.
