Why would these CEO's make this much money with all things considered? I guess they met prior benchmarks set when they were hired, but damn ... these guys are partially responsible for huge losses.
As a shareholder I would be furious.
Does this make any sense? Maybe I'm looking at this too black and white (something I tend to do)?
3 CEOs made $460 million - House panel
House oversight committee prepares to investigate why executives at companies battered by the mortgage crisis were awarded big payouts.
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: March 6, 2008: 4:30 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Three chief executives with ties to the mortgage crisis were paid $460 million over five years, according to a congressional report issued Thursday.
On Friday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is set to examine CEO pay in light of huge losses in the financial sector stemming from the mortgage crisis.
The panel, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., will hear testimony from Charles Prince, former CEO of Citigroup Inc.; Stanley O'Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Angelo Mozilo., chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender.
The committee asked each company for internal documents about executive pay. Committee staffers reviewed company email, board minutes and federal regulatory filings, according to the 23-page memo made public Thursday.
The memo states that the three companies combined lost more than $20 billion in the last two quarters of 2007, as investments related to subprime mortgages fell apart. Meanwhile, the stock of Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide declined drastically.
"The hearing provides a lens through which to examine whether the executive compensation and severance arrangements at these companies provided appropriate incentives to protect shareholders from these losses," the committee said.
The committee is also expected to look at how the compensation and severance packages of Mozilo, O'Neal and Prince were set and approved by their respective boards.
"In many cases, the consultants hired to advise on executive pay were simultaneously receiving millions of dollars from the corporate executives whose compensation they were supposed to assess," according to the memo.
Also scheduled to testify are Richard Parsons, chair of Citigroup's compensation committee and former CEO of Time Warner, the parent company of CNNMoney.com. The chairmen of the Countrywide and Merrill Lynch compensation committees are also set to address the committee.
Calls to Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) and Countrywide (CFC, Fortune 500) were not immediately returned. A Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) spokesman declined to comment.
Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO, which is often critical of executive compensation, believes the hearing will have an important symbolic impact.
"We hope it will put pressure on folks to give some money back and send a signal to other execs that they can't get away with these perverse incentives," Silvers said.
XtremeJibber2001 wrote:Why would these CEO's make this much money with all things considered? I guess they met prior benchmarks set when they were hired, but damn ... these guys are partially responsible for huge losses.
As a shareholder I would be furious.
Does this make any sense? Maybe I'm looking at this too black and white (something I tend to do)?
3 CEOs made $460 million - House panel
House oversight committee prepares to investigate why executives at companies battered by the mortgage crisis were awarded big payouts.
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: March 6, 2008: 4:30 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Three chief executives with ties to the mortgage crisis were paid $460 million over five years, according to a congressional report issued Thursday.
On Friday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is set to examine CEO pay in light of huge losses in the financial sector stemming from the mortgage crisis.
The panel, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., will hear testimony from Charles Prince, former CEO of Citigroup Inc.; Stanley O'Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Angelo Mozilo., chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender.
The committee asked each company for internal documents about executive pay. Committee staffers reviewed company email, board minutes and federal regulatory filings, according to the 23-page memo made public Thursday.
The memo states that the three companies combined lost more than $20 billion in the last two quarters of 2007, as investments related to subprime mortgages fell apart. Meanwhile, the stock of Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide declined drastically.
"The hearing provides a lens through which to examine whether the executive compensation and severance arrangements at these companies provided appropriate incentives to protect shareholders from these losses," the committee said.
The committee is also expected to look at how the compensation and severance packages of Mozilo, O'Neal and Prince were set and approved by their respective boards.
"In many cases, the consultants hired to advise on executive pay were simultaneously receiving millions of dollars from the corporate executives whose compensation they were supposed to assess," according to the memo.
Also scheduled to testify are Richard Parsons, chair of Citigroup's compensation committee and former CEO of Time Warner, the parent company of CNNMoney.com. The chairmen of the Countrywide and Merrill Lynch compensation committees are also set to address the committee.
Calls to Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) and Countrywide (CFC, Fortune 500) were not immediately returned. A Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) spokesman declined to comment.
Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO, which is often critical of executive compensation, believes the hearing will have an important symbolic impact.
"We hope it will put pressure on folks to give some money back and send a signal to other execs that they can't get away with these perverse incentives," Silvers said.
Angelo Mozilo looks like he spent all that money on tanning.
And the sea will grant each man new hope . . .
-Christopher Columbus
BigKahuna13 wrote:It's an issue for the shareholders to deal with. It's not the government's business.
My initial reaction was agreement with the Gov't for investigating, but reading the article it states the amount was rewarded over time. Over time in which these large firms did very well, despite the risky people they were lending to.
BigKahuna13 wrote:It's an issue for the shareholders to deal with. It's not the government's business.
My initial reaction was agreement with the Gov't for investigating, but reading the article it states the amount was rewarded over time. Over time in which these large firms did very well, despite the risky people they were lending to.
You're right, gov't should stay out of it.
Nah, they need to look into things like this, steroid use in baseball, etc. so as to look like they're doing something, all the time avoiding having to deal with real problems.
"Abandon hope all ye who enter here"
Killington Zone
You can checkout any time you like,
but you can never leave
"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function" =
F. Scott Fitzgerald
"There's nothing more frightening than ignorance in action" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The bigger story with Mozillo is how he accelerated his insider selling as the company was buying the stock back and the mortgage market started tanking.
I think the SEC will be having a few words with ol' leather face.
XtremeJibber2001 wrote:Why would these CEO's make this much money with all things considered? I guess they met prior benchmarks set when they were hired, but damn ... these guys are partially responsible for huge losses.
As a shareholder I would be furious.
Does this make any sense? Maybe I'm looking at this too black and white (something I tend to do)?
3 CEOs made $460 million - House panel
House oversight committee prepares to investigate why executives at companies battered by the mortgage crisis were awarded big payouts.
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
Last Updated: March 6, 2008: 4:30 PM EST
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Three chief executives with ties to the mortgage crisis were paid $460 million over five years, according to a congressional report issued Thursday.
On Friday, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is set to examine CEO pay in light of huge losses in the financial sector stemming from the mortgage crisis.
The panel, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., will hear testimony from Charles Prince, former CEO of Citigroup Inc.; Stanley O'Neal, former CEO of Merrill Lynch & Co.; and Angelo Mozilo., chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp., the nation's largest mortgage lender.
The committee asked each company for internal documents about executive pay. Committee staffers reviewed company email, board minutes and federal regulatory filings, according to the 23-page memo made public Thursday.
The memo states that the three companies combined lost more than $20 billion in the last two quarters of 2007, as investments related to subprime mortgages fell apart. Meanwhile, the stock of Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide declined drastically.
"The hearing provides a lens through which to examine whether the executive compensation and severance arrangements at these companies provided appropriate incentives to protect shareholders from these losses," the committee said.
The committee is also expected to look at how the compensation and severance packages of Mozilo, O'Neal and Prince were set and approved by their respective boards.
"In many cases, the consultants hired to advise on executive pay were simultaneously receiving millions of dollars from the corporate executives whose compensation they were supposed to assess," according to the memo.
Also scheduled to testify are Richard Parsons, chair of Citigroup's compensation committee and former CEO of Time Warner, the parent company of CNNMoney.com. The chairmen of the Countrywide and Merrill Lynch compensation committees are also set to address the committee.
Calls to Merrill Lynch (MER, Fortune 500) and Countrywide (CFC, Fortune 500) were not immediately returned. A Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) spokesman declined to comment.
Damon Silvers, associate general counsel of the AFL-CIO, which is often critical of executive compensation, believes the hearing will have an important symbolic impact.
"We hope it will put pressure on folks to give some money back and send a signal to other execs that they can't get away with these perverse incentives," Silvers said.
What ourrages me is that we pay our representatives excessive money to travel the world, have big budgets for offices and harrass people that make the economy work. They get free health care, and serve only 4 years before they can collect a pension at our expense. And they have the gaul to harrass people that run companies or to tell us we must have a better health care plan.
Make their job part time and make them PAY for retirement and health care. then let them bitch about what others have. Besides, most are so tied into those CEO's that they should just shut up. Guess there were no kick backs.
BigKahuna13 wrote:It's an issue for the shareholders to deal with. It's not the government's business.
My initial reaction was agreement with the Gov't for investigating, but reading the article it states the amount was rewarded over time. Over time in which these large firms did very well, despite the risky people they were lending to.
You're right, gov't should stay out of it.
Nah, they need to look into things like this, steroid use in baseball, etc. so as to look like they're doing something, all the time avoiding having to deal with real problems.
Good point Bubba. If they keep busy with BS investigations like these then they don't have all that spare time to think of other ways to spend our money and tax the hell out of us.
