thainted

Mr. Thain wants his $10 million bonus. Merrill's board is not too happy but I am sure they will eventually cave. After all he has been on the job almost a year, and he "saved" Merrill Lynch by selling it to Bank of America. He also made sure BoA will give him a job and in doing so he will no doubt get his "full" bonus a year from now, when all is calm and close scrutiny is a thing of the past.

Just exactly what did Mr Thain do that he "deserves" such a premium? Well, he happened to be in the right place at the right time. Next to a large pot of money that is. In the overall scheme of these things, his mere $10 million looks small and puny. In the eyes of those losing their jobs it probably looks a bit different.

But the true touch of genius was to sell and make sure he got a good deal for himself at BoA. So you could argue, maybe he does deserve his exorbitant pay after all?

The trouble with excessive pay packages is that they only make people more greedy. They only encourage them to line their pockets even more. The pay, which is meant to encourage the executive to do the right thing is corrupting him or her. Just like absolute power absolutely corrupts, excessive pay leads to excessive greed and excessive self-interest.