Lehman Execs To Share In $2.5 BILLION In Bonuses!

[BlooInBloo]

Oh. My. Gawd.

Just out of curiosity: is this in any *American* papers?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2008/09/key-lehman-employees-to-get-25-billion.html

"For those who thought outsized pay for investment bankers and traders was a thing of the past, think again. Ditto with the idea that having been a key actor in a financial failure dims one's employment prospects. The poster child is John Meriwether, the head of hedge fund Long Term Capital Management, whose collapse in 1998 nearly caused a systemic crisis, leading the Fed to broker a rescue. Meriwether went on to launch another large hedge fund.

From the UK's Times:

Staff at Lehman’s New York office who helped to cause the world’s biggest corporate bankruptcy are to share in a $2.5 billion bonanza.

The bonus, which has been described by London staff as a “scandal” has been pledged by Barclays Capital, the British-based bank that last week acquired Lehman’s American operation and took on 10,000 staff.

The $2.5 billion (£1.4 billion) pot, which has been ring-fenced as part of the acquisition, has caused huge resentment among the 5,000 staff in the firm’s European and Middle Eastern operations who are not guaranteed to be paid after this month...

A Chapter 11 bankruptcy document filed by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc says that Barclays has identified eight individuals out of the New York staff of 10,000 who are vital to make the deal succeed and a further 200 who are identified as “key”. It is thought that these eight directors will be locked into two-year contracts worth between $10m and $25m a year."

[Earth_First]

1. Speechless.

Any comments made would most certainly involve Agent Mike & Co. making a visit to our home in a black SUV.

[prayin4rain]

2. Unbelievable isn't it... I was reading this to my husband last night.... just pathetic n/t

[FedUpWithIt All]

3. May they choke on it. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

6. Can't choke em if they've already been bludgeoned to death.

[cliffordu]

20. I'm liking that idea more and more every day.

car tires soaked in gasoline as neckties work, too....

[magellan]

4. W.T.F.?!?!?

Republican corporate welfare, and here we see more of the queens.

Guillotines come to mind!!

[Solly Mack]

5. Anyone really surprised?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

7. Business as usual with the Execs sucking the lifeblood from the shareholders/stakeholders.

[2Design]

8. this is why we can not give them any more money to throw to the rich n/t

[VP505]

9. Talk about adding insult to injury

and then rubbing some salt into the wound, UNBELIEVABLE!

[BlooInBloo]

10. It's like the rapIST suing the rapEE.

[VP505]

11. Yes, and then demanding

that the rapee be ostracized for being a lousy lay.

[greenman3610]

12. ask yourself - are they democrats?

or republicans.
what do you think?

[unblock]

13. this is the way it works when companies are taken over or restructured

"key" people are paid serious retention bonuses and locked into 3-year contracts while non-key people are subject to layoff.
if you're a favorite of one of the key people, you're safe; otherwise, you're screwed.

note that the bonuses are not for previous performance; it's for staying and making sure the transition works properly.

i'm not saying it's fair -- it isn't. but it is the way it's usually done.

[SmokingJacket]

14. "The way it's usually done" needs

to be changed.

[unblock]

17. better can (and should) be done when government bailouts are involved.

but in lehman's case, it's much closer to your garden variety bankruptcy (not exactly, though, there is some government support involved).

the usual problem in bankruptcy is that there's obviously not enough money to go around, so some people must be let go. and it's not in anyone's interest to let the company completely fall apart (how else to the creditors get paid?) hence the retention bonuses to key people.

[An Intellectual]

15. Jail those fucking thieves.

[napi21]

16. I've said it before. That's Barclays problem. If they're dumb enough

to be willing to pay it, so be it.

[gblady]

18. f'n unbelievable.....

they should have to give that money to where the bail out $$$ are going...
how can they get away with this robbery....

[Kablooie]

19. Whew! That's a relief. It's good to know that the Americans will remain rich.