Compensation

While the government continues its fixation on Wall Street pay by making comments about the anticipated $100 million dollar pay package for Citigroup trader Andrew Hall ... other outsize compensation packages go ignored. Perhaps we need to take the super size pay targeting to other professions as well .. I'm thinking: Baseball players:  Look at these yearly salary stats.   $27 million for ... read more

Story today on government controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac... WASHINGTON – Mortgage finance giantsread more

The marketing and health firm just paid out $36.4 million in bonuses to its distributors at a lavish event in Los Angeles.   Six of the top performers made more than $1 million in bonus, and the firm spent more than $3 million in hotel and entertainment costs in Beverly Hills.   This even though the stock is at a 4 year low. Should America be upset about this?  Of course ... read more

All of this talk about bonuses, taxing bonuses and legislative changes got me thinking (dangerous, I know). Most of Congress has a law degree and many were (highly paid) lawyers in a previous life.   Every firm that has received TARP money has a fleet of lawyers working for them.    Both to make sense of all the changes, fight against some of the changes, defend the company, etc.  You ... read more

The latest money-losing company to announce its top executive is getting a bonus despite losing billions?    The U.S. Post Office. From Fox News: As the U.S. Postal Service considers cutting delivery service in the face of dwindling mail volume and rising costs, the postmaster general received a big pay raise and a performance bonus last year, all authorized by ... read more