Bonuses

Wall Street executives aren't famous for their humility, but they reached a new level of tone-deaf hubris in their recovery from the collapse of 2008. A number of top banks and investment firms have racked up outsized profits in recent months, sending their bonus checks through the roof. Goldman Sachs, for example, set aside $16.7 billion billion for employee compensation -- and that's just for the first nine months of 2009. This despite the fact that many of the same companies were in danger of going under just a year and a half ago, only to be rescued by federal bailout dollars and extraordinarily generous credit terms from the Federal Reserve.

Hostess Brands Inc., in the midst of winding down its business, is hoping Thursday that a federal bankruptcy judge approves up to $1.75 million in bonuses for its executives. The money is intended as an incentive for 19 top-level managers to stay on with the Twinkies and Ding Dongs maker to oversee its liquidation following a battle with its second-largest union. The payouts will be granted only if managers “achieve a set of specific tasks and goals within a specified time frame that are designed to speed and lower the cost of the wind-down,” said Hostess spokesman Lance Ignon.

Teachers, librarians, counselors and administrators who retire from the William S. Hart Union High School District this year are eligible for a bonus critics say is now ineffective at promoting early retirement. The district's board of trustees on Wednesday night approved the Golden Handshake program, which some district leaders wanted to drop for 1993.

Hundreds of Burbank city employees have received a collective $4 million in bonuses since July 2007, according to documents the city fought in court to keep out of public view. The records released by city officials reveal a work culture built around that bonus system, which for some employees has amounted to tens of thousands of dollars in the last four years alone. It dwarfs a bonus program in Glendale, a city nearly twice as large, which distributed $1 million during a 10-year period to top managers.

Regarding "Cash Registers Jingle to Wall St. Bonuses," Dec. 22: And we are planning to let these people handle our Social Security? David R. Clarke Rancho Mirage

Hostess Brands Inc., in the midst of winding down its business, won approval Thursday from a federal bankruptcy judge to give as much as $1.75 million in bonuses to its executives. The money is intended as an incentive for 19 top-level managers to remain with the Twinkies and Ding Dongs maker to oversee its liquidation. The payouts will be granted only if managers "achieve a set of specific tasks and goals within a specified time frame that are designed to speed and lower the cost of the wind-down," Hostess spokesman Lance Ignon said.

The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to eliminate a controversial performance-based bonus program for more than 400 of the county's deputy prosecutors, public defenders and other lawyers. The county grand jury and several supervisors have criticized the Performance Incentive Program bonuses, which have been given during the last three years to thousands of county employees.

Facing persistent criticism of its huge pay packages, investment banking powerhouse Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Thursday that it would buck long-standing Wall Street tradition and pay no year-end cash bonuses to 30 top executives. Instead, the firm will give those employees bonuses made up entirely of Goldman Sachs stock and will bar them from selling the shares for five years. The company also said it would give shareholders a formal voice regarding executive pay. By implementing a number of compensation reforms that Wall Street critics have long championed, Goldman is acting to discourage its employees from taking excessive financial risks.

Calpine Corp. plans to pay Chief Executive Robert May a $10.9-million stock bonus when it emerges from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Court protection. The San Jose-based company also plans to pay about $66.6 million in emergence bonuses to about 2,200 eligible participants, including all full-time workers, the company said.

Foreign affairs The international signing period got off to a torrid start when the Texas Rangers signed 16-year-old Dominican outfielder Nomar Mazara to a record-breaking deal reported to be worth more than $5 million. That would be the largest bonus paid to a non-Cuban Latin prospect, eclipsing the $4.25 million that Oakland gave right-hander Michael Ynoa in 2008 — and it's more than 27 teams paid for all of their international signings last year. Texas also spent $3.5 million to sign 16-year-old outfielder Roland Guzman out of the Dominican Prospect League, meaning the Rangers shelled out more to sign two teenage free agents than they spent in the 50-round June draft last season.