Executive Compensation

Less than a year before the 2008 collapse of Lehman Bros. plunged the global economy into a terrifying free fall, the Wall Street firm awarded nearly $700 million to 50 of its highest-paid employees, according to internal documents reviewed by The Times . The documents, which were among the millions of pages submitted in Lehman's bankruptcy, show the list of top earners each were pledged $8 million to $51 million in cash, stock and other compensation....

Re "Tuition costs prompt hunger strikes," April 29 California State University spokesman Mike Uhlenkamp says the students planning hunger strikes to protest excessive executive compensation don't understand the issues. It is the university that seems not to understand the issues. I am a Cal State faculty member, and as such it is important to me that people understand that the university leadership does not represent the thousands of faculty and staff of Cal State. We stand with the students against excessive executive compensation.

After years of shareholder complaints about executives' compensation, Occidental Petroleum Corp. said Thursday that it would significantly reduce how much it pays top officers and confirmed that Chief Executive Ray R. Irani would relinquish that job next year. President Stephen I. Chazen will succeed Irani as CEO; Irani will stay as chairman but won't be involved in most daily operations of the nation's fourth-largest oil company. Both changes grew out of shareholder concerns.

Re "Lehman elite stood to get $700 million," April 27 "The numbers are shocking but consistent withthe fact that in some ways Wall Street has been run asa casino for extracting money from the real economy and using it to pay extraordinary high levels of compensation. " This quote by Lisa Donner of Americans for Financial Reform in The Times' article on Lehman Bros. aptly sums up what is wrong with Wall Street. This has been Wall Street since the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act; it still is a gambling enterprise.

The shareholder rejection of Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's $15-million pay package has some on Wall Street wondering if the same fate might be in store for the heads of other big U.S. banks. Both Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. will ask shareholders in the coming weeks to vote on a "say on pay" proposal. Corporate governance experts and activist shareholders expect that these votes will capture even more attention now that Citi's shareholders have said they want Pandit's compensation to be dialed back.

Re "Lehman elite stood to get $700 million," April 27 "The numbers are shocking but consistent withthe fact that in some ways Wall Street has been run asa casino for extracting money from the real economy and using it to pay extraordinary high levels of compensation. " This quote by Lisa Donner of Americans for Financial Reform in The Times' article on Lehman Bros. aptly sums up what is wrong with Wall Street. This has been Wall Street since the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act; it still is a gambling enterprise.

Kids will be kids Re "Why does Electric Daisy draw fire?," Opinion, Aug. 22 My son has been attending the Electric Daisy concerts for several years. Like many attendees, I'm sure, my kid isn't your typical juvenile delinquent: He's on his high school's honor roll and is a hospital volunteer, among other things. Why he likes Electric Daisy is a mystery to me. But I doubt my parents understood why my generation liked Jefferson Airplane, the Doors or, for that matter, love-ins at Griffith Park.

Ford Motor Co. has made what it pays its top executives about as transparent as any company in America. While many public companies hide their executive compensation data in the fine print of regulatory filings, Ford simply put out a news release that outlined what the bosses were making in fairly simple terms. It also filed the information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Chief Executive Alan Mulally, the former Boeing executive credited with helping Ford avoid the bankruptcy reorganizations and federal bailouts that sustained General Motors and Chrysler during the recession, earned $29.5 million in total compensation last year.

Amid continued public anger about huge corporate pay packages, the Obama administration's pay czar Tuesday took a series of steps to try to rein in executive salaries and bonuses at firms that received federal taxpayer bailouts. Kenneth R. Feinberg cut annual compensation an average of 15% for top executives at American International Group Inc., General Motors Co., Chrysler and two other firms that have yet to repay their loans. Feinberg, the special master for executive compensation under the $700-billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, also sent letters to all 419 recipients of TARP cash -- many of which have repaid the money -- in an attempt to determine whether salaries and bonuses paid during the height of the financial crisis were too high.

Faced with mounting public and legislative pressure to rein in presidential pay packages, California State University trustees Wednesday adopted a new policy that limits executive compensation. The policy will cap the salary of newly hired presidents at 10% above that of their predecessor, with a ceiling of $325,000 in public funds. The measure was approved unanimously by the Board of Trustees at a meeting in Long Beach. The action followed a public outcry over the decision in July to pay the new president of San Diego State University an annual salary of $400,000 — $350,000 in public funds and $50,000 from a campus foundation — which was $100,000 more than his predecessor.

Less than a year before the 2008 collapse of Lehman Bros. plunged the global economy into a terrifying free fall, the Wall Street firm awarded nearly $700 million to 50 of its highest-paid employees, according to internal documents reviewed by The Times . The documents, which were among the millions of pages submitted in Lehman's bankruptcy, show the list of top earners each were pledged $8 million to $51 million in cash, stock and other compensation....

Calls for reforming Wall Street pay packages reverberated across Washington and the financial district following the disclosure that 50 Lehman Bros. employees were awarded nearly $700 million in the year before the investment bank collapsed. Lawmakers and other experts said disclosure at major banks and other financial institutions should be beefed up significantly, in part to spotlight potential risks that employees may be taking in their pursuit of super-sized paychecks. The Times reported Friday that dozens of lesser-known traders and others at Lehman were allotted pay ranging from $8.2 million to $51.3 million in 2007, including one person who earned more than the chief executive and 42 people who were awarded at least $10 million.

The shareholder rejection of Citigroup Inc. Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's $15-million pay package has some on Wall Street wondering if the same fate might be in store for the heads of other big U.S. banks. Both Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. will ask shareholders in the coming weeks to vote on a "say on pay" proposal. Corporate governance experts and activist shareholders expect that these votes will capture even more attention now that Citi's shareholders have said they want Pandit's compensation to be dialed back.

"Two Broke Girls" and one rich CEO. CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves vaulted to the top of the media pay ladder in 2011 with a compensation package valued at $69.9 million, according to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The 62-year-old executive's package jumped 21% over the $57.7 million that he reaped in 2010. For the last two years, Moonves has received bonuses of $27.5 million. Moonves' base salary was $3.5 million. Last year, he also received nearly $8.5 million in stock and options awards valued at $27.3 million.

Compensation for chief executives at AIG, Ally Financial and GM — the three remaining companies in the TARP program that received what the government calls "exceptional assistance" — is being frozen at last year's levels, the Treasury Department said. The ruling from Patricia Geoghegan, acting special master for executive compensation under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said the mix of stock and salary compensation going to the chief executives this year might shift, but the overall value of their pay packages will not increase from what they made in 2011.

Compensation for chief executives at AIG, Ally Financial and GM -- all of which received exceptional TARP assistance during the financial meltdown -- is being frozen at last year's levels, the Treasury Department said. The ruling from Patricia Geoghegan, acting special master for executive compensation under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, also notes that the government has recovered 75% of the funds it invested in American International Group Inc. General Motors Co. has reduced its obligations by nearly half, while Ally Financial Inc. (formerly GMAC)

Graef Crystal is too loose in his efforts to paint a dark picture of the federal legislation ("Need a Good Laugh? Look at Caps on Executive Pay," May 12). For example, he simply disregards the collective action problems faced by a diverse conglomeration of relatively small shareholders and attributes the lack of private-sector oversight to their being "too stupid or lazy to step forward." When one considers just how much intelligence and energy--not to mention money--is required to succeed in mobilizing a proxy contest under current law, a genuine question emerges as to the potential efficacy of such shareholder-sponsored efforts.

A House committee hearing on executive pay Thursday spotlighted the sharp partisan divide on the issue, with Democrats demanding reforms and Republicans warning against any meddling with the free-market system. The House Financial Services Committee hearing was sought by Democrats, who are backing legislation that would allow shareholders of public companies to veto executive pay packages. But Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.

Ford Motor Co. has made what it pays its top executives about as transparent as any company in America. While many public companies hide their executive compensation data in the fine print of regulatory filings, Ford simply put out a news release that outlined what the bosses were making in fairly simple terms. It also filed the information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Chief Executive Alan Mulally, the former Boeing executive credited with helping Ford avoid the bankruptcy reorganizations and federal bailouts that sustained General Motors and Chrysler during the recession, earned $29.5 million in total compensation last year.

Ford Motor Co. has made what it pays its top executives about as transparent as any company in America. While many public companies hide their executive compensation data in the fine print of regulatory filings, Ford simply put out a news release that outlined what the bosses were making in fairly simple terms. It also filed the information with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CEO Alan Mulally, the former Boeing executive credited with helping Ford avoid the bankruptcy reorganizations and federal bailouts that sustained General Motors and Chrysler during the recession, earned $29.5 million in total compensation last year.