What's more, White House pay czar docked outgoing BofA CEO Ken Lewis $1.5 million from his salary this year. Rough day for the boss, but as Felix Salmon helpful contextualizes, cutting $1.5 million out of a yearly compensation worth $70 million (and overall compensation, including deferred stock compensation) is a bit like denying a morbidly obese person the tiny Maraschino cherry on top of a three-pound sundae.
"Since [pay czar Kenneth] Feinberg had no real jurisdiction over the big lump sum due Lewis, he just decided to bring the sum he could control down to zero," Salmon writes. And good on Ken (the czar, not the chief exec). To say Lewis has performed unevenly since the crash of 2008 would be a diplomatic understatement. He was bullied by the Treasury Dept, he likely lied to shareholders about the Merrill merger, he pushed out Merrill CEO John Thain for a somewhat manufactured bonus controversy and still presides over a money-losing bank at a time when other banks like JPMorgan are racking up intimidating profits.
To read more about Lewis' year, this.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/10/writedowns-blocked-pay-make-rough-day-for-bofas-ken-lewis/28516/
