Merrill's CEO Thain Wants $10 Million Bonus

[Robbien]

Source: CNBC

Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain has suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million, but the battered company's compensation committee is resisting his request, the Wall Street Journal said . . .

Shareholders on Friday approved Bank of America's takeover of Merrill . . .Merrill was arguably saved from extinction when it agreed to merge on Sept. 15, an hour before Lehman Brothers
filed for bankruptcy. The fear was that Merrill could be next if shareholders and trading partners fled, as many did at Lehman and the former Bear Stearns.

Thain has said he deserves a bonus because he helped avert what could have been a much larger crisis at the firm, people familiar with his thinking told the WSJ.



Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/id/28107594

---

He should get a bonus because he averted a disaster by selling the badly run company he was in charge of running. Now what's wrong with that thinking.

[closeupready]

1. I'd say no deal, and let him go find another investment bank to run.

Oh, wait...

[AndyA]

2. Bullshit. He ran the company into the ground. He deserves NOTHING.

In fact, he should be terminated for poor performance.

BULLSHIT. No money for this flake. Send him packing!

[meegbear]

3. I helped avert the US economy from collapsing by buying Christmas gifts ...

where's my bonus?

[Andy823]

4. Send him down the road!

This is what really ticks me off about the financial bailouts. Congress is "demanding" all kinds of things from he automakers, and I have no problem with that, but the financial corporations that got billions in bailouts, had no strings attached at all! Not one single company that received bailouts should be paying their CEO's "ANY" bonus, period!

Congress has not done their job when it comes to demanding things from those who are getting taxpayer dollars, and this needs to be corrected.

[mbperrin]

8. Thank you!

The automakers are literally asking for pennies in loans while these jokers have gotten $4.6 Trillion in cash, guarantees, and backing so far, without answering one question or giving up one bonus, vacation, spa retreat or bloated salary.

Guess those who actually make stuff are not as important as the hucksters....

[robinlynne]

32. Congress has demanded NOTHING> to start with, not one penny should leave the country.

Ins econd palce how about the big three STOP THEIR LAWSUITS AGAINST we the people to end emission regulation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And let's see, how about putting in writing that he money the banks get can ONLY be used for lines of credit for small businesses, and that the big 3 get can ONLY be used for workers retirement and health plans, that they soooooo bitch about paying after people work for them for 35 years.

[predfan]

5. I've got to admit, if he was expecting $11 million, that would have been excessive,

but $10 million sounds, oh, just about right.

We're so jaded to big numbers today, with all this conversation. A $10 million dollar bonus is $200,000 a week for that year's work.

[robinlynne]

33. jesus. 200,000 a week. I can imagine building new worlds with 200,000 a year!

[No Elephants]

34. He had no salary?

[radfringe]

6. ---------MEANWHILE:

---------MEANWHILE:

Big layoffs coming at Merrill Lynch
December 1, 2008 — 4:48pm ET | By Jim Kim
http://www.fiercefinance.com/story/big-layoffs-coming-merrill-lynch/2008-12-01

Bank of America and Merrill Lynch expect to close on their deal by the end of the year. But before then we're likely to see some changes. The success of the deal really turns on efficiencies, and CNBC reports that the Merrill Lynch investment banking unit is likely to be scaled back dramatically. The two companies have a 266,000 employees combined. The investment banking staff collectively totals about 50,000. CNBC says to expect cuts of about 10,000 in the investment banking staffs. These cuts will begin soon, at least before the end of the year.

========

I suggest laying-off Chief Executive John Thain, and using the "bonus money" to retain the employees

[Soylent Brice]

7. of course he does. they all do.

[Neshanic]

9. "Ok, so I hit the iceberg, but we sank quickly and efficiently."

[stray cat]

10. a bonus for competently doing a job - forget it!

[radfringe]

11. What you may not know about John Thain and his history."

"What you may not know about John Thain and his history."
http://www.progressivesplayground.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=560&mode=full&page=

Thain ran the NYSE before leaving to take over the ML job.

Thain's sidekick at the NYSE was Marshall N. Carter, the former Chairman and CEO of State Street. Carter engaged in oppressive misconduct - on videotape, which the company refuses to produce - designed to squelch Patrick and me at the 2000 Annual Meeting. He also engaged in such tactics in 1998 and 1999.

Carter lost the Chairman and CEO position in 2000, after his little snit fit. At the 2000 Annual Meeting, however, he was praised (on said videotape) by Walter Kaye (the same Walter Kaye who recommended Monica Lewinsky for her White House internship).

The younger Marsh Carter is the son of Marshall S. Carter, former Deputy Director of the CIA and Director of the NSA (and former aide to General George C. Marshall).

[Hannah Bell]

24. interesting set of connections.

[benld74]

12. I WANT a 5% WAGE INCREASE!!!

10 million bonus?

[Eurobabe]

13. What a load of horseshit.

:eyes:

[pattmarty]

14. Tell him OK, and he can pick it up in CASH in a brown paper........

....bag at an intersection in downtown Baghdad. Can you believe this motherfucker???????

[radfringe]

15. Merrill Lynch - $10billion in bailout money

The Top 10 Regions for Banking Bailouts
By Peter Galuszka
http://industry.bnet.com/financial-services/1000225/the-top-10-regions-for-banking-bailouts/
December 8th, 2008

There’s a new geography of financial woe and The New York Times has done a major service by putting it together in a revealing graphic.

It shows where, by city and banks, the first $335 billion tranche of the $700 billion bailout has gone. So far, $161.5 billion has been allocated, another $108.5 billion is pending, some $40 billion is going to American International Group and another $25 billion is committed.

Not all of the bailout money means it is going to institutions that have nearly failed but a lot of it is. No matter how one slices it, the bailout fund is the result of some very bad news.

Here’s a breakdown by city and region:

--snip--

New York. $148 billion with Citi taking $50 billion; AIG, $40 billion; and J.P. Morgan Chase, $25, with $10 billion each going to Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs.

--snip--

For an even more compelling graphic, we should try to combine these figures with the number of financial services jobs lost and how much in bonus$es the fat cats are getting.
http://www.progressivesplayground.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=106&topic_id=560&mesg_id=562#562

[Ichingcarpenter]

18. Iran To Jail & Flog 16 Ex-Central Bank Staff For Graft

TEHRAN (Reuters) -- An Iranian court has sentenced to jail and lashes 16 former Central Bank staff for taking bribes including 35 billion rials ($3.5 million) in cash as well as gold and foreign currencies, state radio reported.

It was the latest sign of the Islamic republic, whose leaders have vowed to root out graft, getting increasingly tough on corruption in the world's fourth-largest oil producer.

The radio report said those accused received sentences of 10 years in prison, lashes, and fines in the Tehran court's "initial verdict," without making clear whether all 16 were handed the same punishment.

The report did not say when any lashings would take place.

They were also banned from holding government office again, it said, without detailing the crimes and saying what positions they had held in the Central Bank.

They were accused of receiving 35 billion rials in cash and large quantities of gold coins and foreign currencies in exchange for providing finance in the form of letters of credit, a key tool for trade, the radio said.>>>>>>>>snip

http://www.rferl.org/content/Article/1357083.html

[MissMillie]

16. averting crisis is his job.... and I'm sure he's already paid handsomely for that

bonus? nuh-uh

[pdefalla]

17. No bonus?

At least I didn't hit TWO icebergs!

[sarcasmo]

19. The new #1 Greedy Pig.

[faulknercindy]

20. Here's a saying I get to say everyday

Wow there's an asshole for ya huh?

[OhioChick]

21. 10 Mil Bonus?

:wtf:

[Sewsojm]

22. This greedy bastard

This greedy bastard should be stripped naked then hot tarred & feathered , fuck these wealthy bastards!!



In December 2003 NYSE interim Chairman John Reed, told The Wall Street Journal that Thain would be paid "a plain vanilla number" - about $4 million a year, including bonuses, with no "strange retirement" programs like former CEO Dick Grasso was paid.

Merrill Lynch announced that Mr. Thain will receive at least $50 million per year in compensation and could achieve as much as $120 million per year, depending on the company's stock price. Based on a formula by the Associated Press<1>, in 2007 Thain was the best-paid CEO among the S&P 500 companies, receiving $83.1 million.

As of Dec 8th 2008, Thain suggested to directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as much as $10 million because he saved shareholders money (including himself) by selling to Bank of America. The battered company's compensation committee is resisting his request, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

[JerseygirlCT]

23. I hope they develop the appropriate backbone and/or fear

of retribution, and tell him where to put his request.

[natrat]

25. what a pos

[rhett o rick]

26. Bank of America is our enemy. Don't give them any business. nm

[depakid]

27. Another poster child for financial re-regulation and limits on CEO compensation

The more outrageous their behaviors, the greater the likelihood that responsible legislation and regulation gets put into place next year.

[HughBeaumont]

28. Go ahead Repukes, I believe you were saying something funny . . .

. . . about how giving the rich money will inspire them to be benevolent!

Idiots. All it does is make them greedier and greedier and for the past 28 years, you've voted to let these assholes loot your money right from out of your paychecks.

This dicktit should get a blue suit and a mug shot. Not a lottery.

[calimary]

29. I wonder how many jobs that ten million dollars would cover?

A greedy asshole who wants more, at a time when too many people don't have ANYTHING.

What's wrong with this picture?

[conspirator]

30. John, can we pay you in gold? How about a golden guillotine? nt

[robinlynne]

31. fire the mother fucker. And make every one of them clen bathrooms in a homeless shelter for a month.