The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC’s chairman on Friday acknowledged that the bank had miscalculated the public and political reaction to the £963,000 (around $1.5 million) bonus in shares awarded to Chief Executive Stephen Hester, who subsequently turned down the payment…”We knew it would be a difficult reaction, but the speed and scale of it took us by surprise,” Mr. Hampton said in a briefing with reporters. [WSJ]
who could’ve predicted this
Severance: it’s means you got canned but if you got somea that way back, like circa Bear going down, before the next level shit of everyone getting axed, it was safe to assume you a) got a decent amount it and b) weren’t looking for a new job in the scariest environment imaginable. So, it was only natural that you didn’t freak out or take the first new gig you were offered, whether or not involved standing on a street corner. Also? You probably didn’t change your lifestyle much, right? If you answered yes to any of the above, Paul Joegringer knows how you feel:
Paul Joegriner hasn’t worked since March 2008, when he was laid off from his $200,000-a-year job as chief executive officer of a small bank. But you wouldn’t know it by appearances. His wife, Marzena, shuttles their two young children to private school every morning. The family recently vacationed in Virginia Beach, Va., and likes to dine on Porterhouse steaks. Since losing his job, Mr. Joegriner, 44 years old, has had several offers. He’s turned each down in hopes of landing a position comparable to what he held before. By Mr. Joegriner’s own calculations, the family will be out of money in six months if he doesn’t find work. “It will be D-Day,” he says. “But on the outside, no one has any idea that we’re in trouble.”
Except for anyone reading the Journal today. Moving on, Chuck Hipsher can also empathize:
He met his wife at the ad agency, and the two had a $40,000 wedding. Kelly Hipsher, 32, was laid off in October 2007 and found out she was pregnant in February 2008. A week later, Mr. Hipsher’s pink slip followed. Two months after that, the out-of-work couple moved to Greenville, S.C., to be closer to family and get a fresh start. Together, they had received about $60,000 in severance. “Now we have $600 to our name,” says Mr. Hipsher. Although their rent was cheaper, Mr. Hipsher says the family continued to spend like before. They moved with three cars — two BMWs and a Chevy Silverado. They continued to buy cases of $36-a-bottle wine. They spent $250 a month on a cleaning lady, and Mr. Hipsher dropped $50 a week on flowers for his wife. The couple still dined out regularly.
As can an asston of other people, apparently:
Any Galleon Traders Still Interested In Making Use Of The Material Non-Public Info They Have On Hand Must Now Turn To Yahoo! Finance
By Bess LevinLogical but no less soul-crushing news from the House of Raj:
The boys and girls at Galleon no longer enjoy real time quotes unless they get it from the web, service was cancelled given that they no longer need to make trades. They’re pretty upset about it.
