Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Wednesday agreed to accept executive pay limits for the C.E.O.s of Wall Street firms slated to benefit from the $700 billion bailout initiative winding through Congress, according to several reports.
The Treasury Department, though, denied such a deal was in place. President Bush was scheduled to address the nation on the bailout plan Wednesday night.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain, meanwhile, flanked by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney earlier Wednesday, joined the chorus of critics calling for a plan that emphasizes greater C.E.O. accountability and curtails rich C.E.O. payouts for floundering companies.
"The senior executives of any firm that is bailed out by Treasury should not be making more than the highest-paid government official," said McCain, according to the Associated Press.
Below is a look at the 2007 compensation packages received by the C.E.O.'s of the major banks at the heart of the U.S. financial fiasco, provided by the East Bay Business Times.
- Lehman Brothers C.E.O. Richard Fuld made $34 million in 2007. Lehman filed for bankruptcy protection mid-September.
- Goldman Sachs paid C.E.O. Lloyd Blankfein $70 million last year. Co-Chief Operating Officers Gary Cohn and Jon Winkereid took home $72.5 million and $71 million, respectively.
- American International Group C.E.O. Martin Sullivan received $14 million in 2007. He was ousted in June. The insurance titan is due to receive an $85 billion bailout from the federal government.
- Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain was paid $17 million in salary, bonuses and stock options in 2007. Merrill is being acquired by Bank of America Corp.
- JP Morgan Chase & Co. C.E.O. James Dimon earned $28 million in 2007. Chase acquired troubled investment house Bear Stearns earlier this year.
- Fannie Mae C.E.O. Daniel Mudd received $11.6 million in 2007, while Freddie Mac C.E.O. Richard Syron, brought in $18 million. The federal government will take over the mortgage backers with Herbert Allison to serve as Fannie CEO and David Moffett the new CEO at Freddie.
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