'Fearsome Five' CEOs Count Millions
By Graef Crystal
San Diego, Feb. 27 -- Where's the outrage?
This favorite expression of politicians comes to mind after reviewing the pay of five Wall Street chief executives for fiscal 2000. The "Fearsome Five" earned a staggering $154 million for their efforts, about 20 percent more than in fiscal 1999. Three surpassed $30 million in pay.
Short form answer: There isn't any outrage. Americans have come to accept huge CEO pay as, well, simply American. It's hard to believe that in the 1970s, pay consultants kept a betting pool on which chief executive would first cross the $1 million line.
The CEOs are, in descending order of pay: Philip Purcell of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. ($37.1 million), James Cayne of Bear Stearns Cos. ($33 million), David Komansky of Merrill Lynch & Co. ($32.6 million), Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ($28.3 million), and the poor country cousin, Henry Paulson Jr. of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., who earned just $22.5 million.
... [T]here is no logic here, except that no matter what the company's size and performance, the CEO has an urgent need to earn a ton of money -- a need that, in recent memory, has never gone unfulfilled.
[Full text: http://www.bloomberg.com/feature/feature983283723.html]
Carl
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