Does Ken Lewis Deserve A Bonus?

Posted by Bess Levin, Dec 10, 2008, 11:40am

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He's one of the last CEO's to decide whether or not he'll accept a few mill this year (or rather one of the last to be told by the board whether or not they'll toss him a bone). On the one hand, he's BANKER OF THE YEAR! And shouldn't that title come with some perks, other than the satisfaction of knowing he's the least loser-y of the losers? On other other, Bank of America did receive money from the government, and you know how Andrew Cuomo et al feel about executives of those special firms getting zilch. Plus the whole, possibly overpaying for Merrill sitch. So!

And more importantly:

1Recommend this! 41Comments

Comments

1

Posted by Private, Dec 10, 2008 11:47AM

Ken deserves a bonus, that acquisitions BOA made may not look great now, but will make BOA a powerhouse in the next year and into the future, and Ken should definitely be awarded for the moves he has made.

2

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 11:48AM

100mm Spirit Points

3

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 11:49AM

His bonus should be a half gallon of bojangles sweet tea and a sense of shame from the impending hickification of the thundering herd

4

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:03PM

maybe a few jars of mayo, store brand tho, no brand name stuff

5

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:08PM

In this thorny issue, I propose a compromise: K to the L gets a bonus, but he gets it all in BAC stock and slightly used corporate jets.

6

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:25PM

He should have a retroactive clawback applied.

7

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:31PM

Give the guy a bonus, does anyone realize that a good portion of tax revenue comes from these bonuses that get paid out to the big wigs? Its a no win situation for the tax payers. Although, I like the spirit point idea ;-)

8

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:35PM

No way will he get a bonus. the B of A board will never expose themselves to that.

It would NOT surprise me if he got something mid-year next year, though. Some options grant, etc. Nothing says a bonus must be paid in December. They'll wait 6 months. Too hot a potato right now.

9

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:36PM

give him Tim Gill as a man-slave

10

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:36PM

7- this is why NYC is goign to look like the set from The Warriors in a year- gotta get back to Coney boppers...

11

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:39PM

@3- No blueberry biscuits!? Damn, you're cold

12

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:39PM

Can spirit points be deducted?

13

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 12:50PM

Somali pirates shopuld violate his booty

14

Posted by NAS Keflavik boi, Dec 10, 2008 1:01PM

@ 10 -- Back in '77, NYC WAS the set for "The Warriors". It REALLY did suck that much back then, and yes, those days are returning.

15

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 1:04PM

Bonus?! BAC is down 60% YTD... since when did we lower the bar for "good performance" to "the company hasn't declared bankruptcy"?!

16

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 1:09PM

this man is clearly made of Spam...reminds me of a Chicago broker I once knew.

17

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 1:22PM

Give him treasury shares vested for 10 years. He doesnt mind.

Or does he?

18

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 1:22PM

The only one that sucks the least is Jamie Dimon...he got fire sale prices for Bear Stearns and WaMu.

19

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 1:39PM

Since when does mediocrity get rewarded? No bonus KL...

20

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:07PM

I'd give him some out of them money stock options. He did three major, potentially transformational deals this year that will make the stock price go up (ML, Countrywide, and the China bank) or he didn't. If he didn't, he shouldn't get paid extra cash. If he did, he deserves to be put in the Jamie category.

Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, MER was the best acquisition of this whole finance yard sale spree in terms of best-in-class at anything. Bear? Not best in class, when the story finally gets told it will be about how they got a cheap new headquarters a bit closer to the subway. WAMU? Good deposit base, sure, but not exactly something that has value beyond that. Countrywide wasn't a good idea, and I have no idea on the China increased stake thingy, but it's hard to think that demographically long term that will suck. People have wanted the MER brokerage network for two generations, and it has never been available. Ken gets it--yes, he overpaid, but this is a pure example of a unique asset. You won't find anyone in financial services who doesn't think it's the best asset of its kind.

Throw him a fricken' bone, people.

21

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:07PM

Spirit points are taxed like ordinary income.

22

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:13PM

1 year ago RBS paid $100 billion for ABN Amro.

For this amount, one could now buy:

Citibank $22.5 billion

Morgan Stanley $10.5 billion

Goldman Sachs $21 billion

Merrill Lynch $12.3 billion

Deutsche Bank $13 billion

Barclays $12.7 billion

And still have $8 billion in change......for which one would be able to pick up GM, Ford, Chrysler and the Honda F1 Team

BofA looks great using this comp

23

Posted by Tapecracker, Dec 10, 2008 2:16PM

@22
Holy shit dude... awesome post

24

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:31PM

22 - if you're going to blatantly re-post something from a month ago, dont do it to a dynamic post where the facts change on a minute by minute basis

Citi - $44bln now
MS - $14

rest..who cares, not enough time

25

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:31PM

nice post 22

prob. best to hold on to the 100 billion

26

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:32PM

15 - You're absolutely right. If you argue that you deserve it in the good years, you have to take the hit in the bad years. He's the leader and the stock has tanked. If the purchases work out, then pay him when they work out, not now. Total joke what these mediocre CEOs expect.

27

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 2:55PM

Ken Lewis will eventually be revealed as a guy in way over his head-- for example, when he fumbles the ML integration, after overpaying in the first place. He has already been working hard this year to destroy the USTrust franchise, and his conumer banking and credit card businesses are so poorly run that they are alienating customers every day

28

Posted by Goldman Sachs Neophyte, Dec 10, 2008 4:30PM

Lewis does not deserve a bonus, though I want him to get one anyways. Though he will not recieve one. Also, he definately overpaid for Merrill. I want Lewis to get a bonus and in a surprise move...give half of his bonus to Thain!When I mean give, I mean I want Lewis and Thain to go to a BofA branch and have Lewis wire transfer the money to Thain. It would be even better if Gasparino was standing beside them on the phone with his "sources".

PS: the only two CEO's that deserve a bonus, though they want get one are: Lloyd C. Blankfein (of course) and Jamie Dimon.

- that guy from Goldman Sachs (a.k.a.: TGFGS)

29

Posted by Goldman Sachs Neophyte, Dec 10, 2008 4:34PM

Lewis does not deserve a bonus, though I want him to get one anyways. Though he will not recieve one. Also, he definately overpaid for Merrill. I want Lewis to get a bonus and in a surprise move...give half of his bonus to Thain!When I mean give, I mean I want Lewis and Thain to go to a BofA branch and have Lewis wire transfer the money to Thain. It would be even better if Gasparino was standing beside them on the phone with his "sources".

PS: the only two CEO's that deserve a bonus, though they want get one are: Lloyd C. Blankfein (of course) and Jamie Dimon.

- that guy from Goldman Sachs (a.k.a.: TGFGS)

30

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 7:36PM

isn't the stock down 60+% this year? no spirit points can subsidize the shareholder value he has destroyed. credit card portfolio is going to blow up next.

31

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 8:10PM

Lewis is a dangerous CEO who is doubling down at the risk of the shareholders, the employees' future and now the taxpayer's money. If you think that he deserves a bonus, then my guess is that you think BAC has nothing to do with the current situation. I believe he deserves a bonus...a severence check.

32

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 8:12PM

BofA and MER are both awful. They will fail together.

Have they revoked summer offers of MER folks yet from IBD? I heard of a buddy who got his yanked this week.

33

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 8:33PM

Would you give a bonus to the CEO of Chrysler if he was buying GM and Ford thinking he is buying market shares? or would you say that this is just insanity?

34

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 8:34PM

Lewis should be required to give Pandit a tutorial on negotiating a merger at a fair price and in good faith.

35

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 10:43PM

Ken Lewis is a clown; despite his time at finishing school to polish his outward appearance and lingering chip on his shoulder, he does not have the horsepower to operate in the league he now finds himself in, nor do his NCNB confidants. While I would be happy to be proven wrong, he has made his own bed with the collection of acquisitions he lobbied for / completed in the recent past (as a disciple of Huge McColl, he certainly has never seen a deal he doesn't want to do), and my guess is that he shits it in grand fashion. No bonus for Ken.

36

Posted by guest, Dec 10, 2008 10:57PM

@11,
They are called bo-berry biscuits.

37

Posted by guest, Dec 11, 2008 9:33AM

Ken Lewis needs to take that money (if he receives any) and use it to keep his freaking employees. This Goliath is going to get too big and it seems to me that he's going to piss off quite a few people. When he needs them to come back...that bridge will have burned and poor poor Ken Lewis will be left sucking his thumb in the corner with his half-gallon of sweet tea.

38

Posted by guest, Dec 11, 2008 7:27PM

urtak.com is really cool, too.

39

Posted by guest, Feb 10, 2009 5:33PM

I'm sorry Ken Lewis is an embarrassing example of a "banker". His legitimacy and his credibility is as farcical as his face is ugly. He's literally the last guy I'd like to have a beer with, he deserves a boogers.

signed,
too lazy to create a damn account just to pewst

40

Posted by guest, Feb 10, 2009 5:33PM

I'm sorry Ken Lewis is an embarrassing example of a "banker". His legitimacy and his credibility is as farcical as his face is ugly. He's literally the last guy I'd like to have a beer with, he deserves nothing but boogers.

signed,
too lazy to create a damn account just to pewst

41

Posted by guest, Mar 11, 2009 10:52PM

Just in case he doesn't get a bonus, I'll send Ken Lewis the my severance package that I got when I lost my job in November...oh wait, I didn't get a severance package. Oh well, no soup for you Ken, but at least you got to keep your job.

I could send Ken the signing bonus that I got when I accepted the offer for my new job...oh wait, I still don't have a job. My special thanks to Ken and his peers for screwing up the economy and job market so bad that I can't find another job.

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