Back in March, Washington Mutual
Well, give 'em a hand, everybody ... WaMu just beat its own record of corporate arrogance.
Money for nothing and a terrible reputation for free
WaMu's new CEO, Alan Fishman, might go down as the ultimate showcase of executive greed if he doesn't do the right thing in the next few days. After just 432 hours on the job -- during which time he presided over the complete collapse of the company -- Fishman stands to collect more than $19 million in pay.
That's right: $19 million for 18 days work, or an annualized rate of $385 million. $1.05 million per day. $44,000 per hour. More money than most people will make in several lifetimes, all to watch one of America's largest banks spiral into failure.
Fishman has to stay on through the finalization of the JPMorgan Chase
Don't shoot the messenger .... unless he's absurdly overpaid.
In all fairness, Fishman had nothing to do with WaMu's demise: He was brought in Sept. 8 to replace long-time CEO Kerry Killinger, who led the company down a lethal road of subprime and adjustable-rate mortgage products. Then again, that's what's frustrating about all of this: Fishman could have legitimately earned his pay had he orchestrated a sale of the company to a host of banks that showed interest, including Citigroup
The big question now: Will Fishman accept the pay? You better believe he'll have a world of pressure to turn down the pay package, especially just a week after AIG's
All eyes on you, Alan.
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