John Thain and Hot Water
I had posted about the self-centred leadership style of John Thain here. Looks like his latest antics to get some undeserved bonuses out the door before the new owners moved in may have backfired:
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York’s attorney general issued a subpoena to former Merrill Lynch Chief Executive John Thain on Tuesday in a probe into bonuses paid to the firm’s employees just days before its takeover by Bank of America Corp.
“The fact that Merrill Lynch appears to have moved up the timetable to pay bonuses before its merger with Bank of America is troubling to say the least and warrants further investigation,” Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri declined to comment.
Cuomo said his office issued a subpoena seeking testimony from Thain, who was ousted from Bank of America on January 22. Also subpoenaed was Bank of America Chief Administrative Officer J. Steele Alphin, Cuomo said.
Cuomo said his office is conducting its ongoing inquiry into executive compensation practices at companies taking part in the $700 billion financial bailout fund together with the special inspector general of the federal aid program.
Via.
The guys at the top of these corporations are all the same. While the little guy gets screwed over, they fly their jets to and fro, get salary increases and bonuses such as these, which only serve to put them further out of touch with the rest of us. I think having Obama at the helm will somewhat mitigate this, but only to a degree. He has froze salaries in the White House, and I heard he called a major US bank yesterday and advised the CEO to put the brakes on the purchase of a $50 million jet. Common sense will take time to prevail.