$1.6 Billion of Bailout Went to Pay Top Execs

by Dollars and Sense

According to a study by the Associated Press, $1.6 billion of the federal bailout funds went into the pockets of top bank executives. Even institutions that have cut the salaries and bonuses of top corporate officers have awarded massive compensation packages, despite having logged billions of dollars in losses.

Some highlights:

The total amount given to 600 top executives of financial institutions that have received federal bailout money would have covered what many of the 116 banks received in taxpayer funds.

Banks that received federal bailout money paid their executives an average of $2.6 million in salary, benefits, and bonuses.

The top five executives of Goldman Sachs took home $242 million last year, including $54 million for CEO Lloyd Blankfein. The company has received $10 billion in taxpayer money, and has posted its first quarterly loss since going public in nine years ago. Reacting to public outrage over executive compensation, the executives have decided to forgo their bonuses this year, and live off a mere $600,000 salary (no word yet on any plans to refund last year's bonuses).

The rest of the sad story can be found here.

Labels: executive pay, Golden Parachutes, Goldman Sachs, TARP program, taxpayer ripoff

 

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12/21/2008 09:32:00 PM