But! Despite only receiving an annual base salary of $1 for 2008 and 2009, and no bonus for either year, Edward Liddy will be “eligible for a special bonus for extraordinary performance payable in 2010.” And, you know what? Giving up that money was definitely worth it. Not because his company is a black hole of insolvency, and not because it was the “right” thing to do and not because he spent most people’s annual take-home (x3) on manicures and pedicures, but because it meant he got to get this figurative hair ruffle/knock on the chin/great job, Champ/whatever you want to call it:
We have received Mr. Liddy’s response to our letter of last week outlining the action AIG will now take regarding executive compensation. AIG has taken a positive step by eliminating bonuses and salary increases for its top executives. Taxpayers have been slammed with a one-two punch seeing their investments dwindle while simultaneously having to fund the Wall Street bailout with billions of their tax dollars. It is only fair that top executives, who benefit the most when firms do well, should also bear the burden of the difficult economic consequences their firms now face. This gesture by AIG is appropriate and I encourage other firms to wake up to the new reality on Wall Street and follow AIG’s step quickly. The taxpayers of this country deserve nothing less.
He’s also been granted permission to attend Andy’s birthday party-cum-fundraiser this year, which is huge.
STATEMENT FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL ANDREW CUOMO CONCERNING AIG’S DECISION TO ELIMINATE BONUSES FOR TOP EXECUTIVES [Office of the Attorney General]
i will not the one that says “first” cmon little too old.
the forgoing of bonuses will have a ripple affect and hurt those hard working slav girls.
who cares. i hope liddy chokes on a cock working the shift at the port authority
@2- obviously you, since you got so, um, worked up about it.
Ahahahaha…Good job Champ…ahahah. It’s been a bad year for the Champ!
Cuomo go to hell you arrogant prick. No one cares about your opinion or wants your congratulations.
I would’ve asked to be paid a Euro. The dollar’s cost-per-wipe value is down.
By taxpayer he means the same top 5% of people who are funding the bailout will be getting their compensation reduced as well. So taxes goes up, compensation goes down, and don’t forget to donate to charity as well. But the other 50% of you that don’t even pay taxes, thanks for voting.
The time for politicians to take a wage cut is long gone. Losing or winning an election is not good enough. Take a pay cut.
for what its worth, this guy made all his money at Allstate and is trying to help out AIG for the good of the economy. He never really expected to be paid doing this. Liddy is not a bad guy
Does this mean that the NY State Comptroller won’t get paid this year either. It seems his job was to make sure our states investments made money, and he didn’t perform as per his duties.
No cash for him.
Is it really appropriate public policy for us to entrust a $135BB taxpayer investment to somebody who agrees not to get paid to protect it? I guess we’ll now get to see what unexpected consequences derive from relying on altruism as the incentive to manage a gigantic and complicated enterprise.
@9,11 Altruism has got nothing to do with it. Liddy will be paid very handsomely if/when he “restores profitability” to AIG. Which is, when the govt gives up entirely on the idea of asset sales (i.e. having Liddy do the job he was sent there to do), and just takes a cut of the earnings from their Treasury-backed zombie juggernaut. Eat it, free market!
@7: Don’t kid yourself that these bailouts are being paid for with taxes. The money is being printed, and it will lead to a decline in the value of the dollar, which hurts everyone but tends to hurt the poors more because they have fewer inflation hedges and most of their spending is non-discretionary.
hedges??!…..i dont even have a front yard!
joe plumber
Bess – wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to post a picture of Cuomo’s ex wife taking the pipe while she was married to him? We are talking about oversight here…
This is all Spitzer’s fault. And I don’t know why no one else has connected the dots. If Spitzer had left Hank Greenberg alone, AIG would still be in terrific shape. But no, Spitzer was intent on bringing down every big-wig on Wall Street whether or not they deserved it. Now here we are with Spitzer where he belongs, Greenberg proven innocent of all charges and AIG teetering on collapse. Hank would have never run AIG into the ground. And now your tax dollars are paying for the idiots who did. All thanks to Spitzer, the Horn Dog.