Want to do something REALLY smart today? Instead of letting your 401K be swallowed up and used by the bankers...invest in something that will truly help your family...no more saving for a rainy day...that day is here! Buy food, shelter, seeds, etc. I mean, give yourself a REAL bonus...every one else out there seems to be..or at least make YOUR ENVIRONMENT give the right message! TAKE CARE OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!
Citigroup to spend about $10 million on new executive offices
Bloomberg NewsPublished: March 19, 2009
NEW YORK: Citigroup confirmed Thursday that it planned to spend about $10 million on new offices for Vikram Pandit, its chief executive, and his lieutenants, saying the project would help it save money over time.
Affidavits filed with the New York Department of Buildings show that Citigroup, which has received $45 billion in government rescue aid, expects to pay at least $3.2 million for basic construction like wall removal, plumbing and fire safety at the bank’s Park Avenue headquarters. That figure does not include expenses like architect fees or furnishings.
‘‘In this environment, it absolutely sends the wrong message,’’ said Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, referring to the office renovations. ‘‘Timing in life is everything.’’
Boston Capital
Bonuses beyond belief
By Steven Syre
Globe Columnist / March 20, 2009
The American International Group story is seared into the public consciousness by now, how employees of the London-based division responsible for most of the insurance company's problems received $165 million in retention bonuses to stay on at the place they helped wreck.
The story of Merrill Lynch's $3.6 billion bonus bonanza belongs in an entirely different league. Many of the details have already been disclosed, but they are making headlines again this week because a judge upheld the right of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to disclose the names of Merrill executives who shared in the payout just before the crumbling brokerage was sold to Bank of America Corp. late last year.
Start with the money. Besides the mind-bending size of the entire bonus pool, a staggering amount of money was distributed at the top. The four executives who got the most received a total of $121 million, according to Cuomo. The next four got $62 million, and the following six were awarded $66 million. A grand total of 696 Merrill employees received at least $1 million each in bonuses.
But the Merrill story isn't just about the size of the money pot. How and when the bonus payout took place matter, too.
Merrill accelerated its normal bonus schedule so the awards took place just days before Bank of America acquired the company at the end of 2008. A couple of weeks later, executives suddenly discovered Merrill was bleeding to the tune of $13.8 billion during the final quarter of the year.
So a company that was losing money at a pace of more than $6 million each hour over a period of three months decided to reward its executives with $3.6 billion of bonuses at the very time. That would have been a sad but private story if it ended there, but it didn't.
Take Action! It's a real bonus in the right environment...get the message?
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