The answer is no, I'm not surprised. But, we must never lose the sense of outrage or simply shrug because "it's just the way it is". Never. The absolute Audacity of Greed has to be challenged every moment.
In the Financial Times today:
Jamie Dimon underlined Wall Street’s return to health after the financial crisis by collecting a $5m bonus – his first cash pay-out in three years – as part of a $23m pay package for leading JPMorgan Chase during 2010.
Mr Dimon’s pay, revealed in a regulatory filing on Thursday, is a 51 per cent increase on the $15.2m in cash and shares he earned for 2009 and comes after a year that saw JPMorgan’s profits rise 47 per cent to a record $17.4bn.[emphasis added]
He's not the only one, of course:
After weathering a political storm over pay following the crisis, several US financial groups have resumed paying multimillion dollar cash bonuses to their top executives. At Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein, chief executive, received $18.6m in total compensation for 2010, including a $5.4m cash bonus, his first since 2007. John Stumpf, the Wells Fargo chief, got a $3.3m cash bonus.
And it's not only the Wall Street pirates. The auto execs are at the trough too:
Ford Motor Co. paid Chief Executive Alan Mulally more than $26.5 million in salary and stock compensation last year, an amount likely to become a hot-button union issue during labor negotiations later this year.
Mr. Mulally received $1.4 million in salary and $9.45 million in a cash bonus as part of his compensation package, the company said Friday. Executive Chairman William Clay Ford Jr. also received total compensation of $26.5 million, which included a salary of $1.4 million and a cash bonus of $2.7 million.
Ford also disclosed that Americas President Mark Fields received 2010 total compensation of $8.82 million, while Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth was paid $8.20 million and manufacturing executive vice president John Fleming received $5.92 million.
Recall that Ford auto workers got a $5,000 bonus in March--a pittance compared to the windfall given the executives--and after auto WORKERS have taken massive concessions over the past twenty years. Since 2005, auto workers have given up somewhere between $7,000 to $30,000 (depending on car company and seniority).
Let's sum up the picture. Millions of people still can't get work, and when they find a job, it's at a pathetic wage with no benefits.
In the corporate suite, the party is on again--and the robbery of America continues.