<![CDATA[ - Articles - RealClearPolitics]]> http://www.realclearpolitics.com/authors/rss/archive/17527.xml Author <![CDATA[The Rise and Fall of Andrew Cuomo]]> Tue, 24 Mar 2015 00:00:00 -0500 <![CDATA[Wall Street’s $18.4 Billion Bonus]]> Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:00:00 -0600 On December 8, The Wall Street Journal reported that John Thain, the 53-year-old chairman and C.E.O. of Merrill Lynch, had let it be known he wanted a $10 million bonus.

In-Thain Demand: Ex–Merrill Lynch C.E.O. John Thain ($15 million signing bonus in 2007) and predecessor E. Stanley O’Neal (compensation: $87 million in five years). Photo illustrations by Darrow.

And why not? After all, Thain had made the brutally pragmatic decision, over the mid-September weekend that changed Wall Street forever, to sell the 94-year-old firm to Bank of America for $50 billion, averting the bankruptcy that awaited Lehman Brothers that Monday and saving Merrill’s...]]>