Executive Investigator

Goldman Sachs' CEO pay valued at $42 million

ExecutiveInvestigator.com — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:18:56 GMT

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein received compensation from stock and options valued at $42.9 million during fiscal 2008 according to the Associated Press.

Though the compensation was for performance prior to 2008 and Blankfein received no compensation tied to his performance last year, examples like this once again question whether drastic collapses should require CEOs to forgo performance pay promised in good years.

Goldman Sachs took $10 billion in TARP money while reporting its first ever quarterly loss last year - facts that led to a drop in its share price that erased all gains since 2005.

Ford CEO gets $13.7 million?

ExecutiveInvestigator.com — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:43:17 GMT

Ford Motor Company is alone among its Detroit peers in not having accepted bail-out funds. Even so, let's be clear: the company is not doing well, with the need for government assistance not out of the question and its stock down more than 50% over the past year.

The question is then, why did Ford CEO Alan Mulally get compensation valued in a company filing at $13.7 million last year? Sure, his compensation dropped by 37% from 2007 (a year in which Ford shares also lost money), but it is still unjustifiably high.

Geithner says gov. should not micro-manage executive pay

ExecutiveInvestigator.com — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:00:45 GMT

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified before the House Financial Services Committee today, primarily a public scolding where Brad Sherman (D.- California) criticized his handling of AIG and its bonuses.

On the topic of executive compensation broadly, Geithner said:

"I do think it is appropriate to put in place strong standards that govern compensation" broadly, but cautioned that the government "should not be setting precise, detailed amounts of compensation and distribution."

Part of the strong standards for compensation could be encouraging better bonus incentives for risk-managers and auditors in order to attract the best talent to those departments of the company, Geithner added.