"Behind Every Great Fortune Lies a Great Crime"- CEO's "cashed out" prior to economic crisis

[Orwellian_Ghost]

CEOs “cashed out” prior to economic crisis
By Tom Eley
28 November 2008

Balzac’s maxim that “behind every great fortune lies a great crime” may yet prove a fitting epitaph for American capitalism. A recent survey by the Wall Street Journal reveals that CEOs at major US financial and real estate firms converted tens of millions of dollars of overvalued stock into cash prior to the eruption of the current financial crisis, even as many of their corporations approached the precipice.

The Journal analyzed the fortunes of CEOs from 2003 to 2007 based on executive compensation and stock sale data. Fifteen of these CEOs took home more than $100 million in cash during this period. At the high end was Charles Schwab, who made over $816 million from his self-named accounting firm, almost all of it from stock sales.

Of the 120 publicly traded firms the Journal analyzed, CEOs cashed out a total of more than $21 billion. However, data was gathered only from publicly traded companies, and thus does not include similar fortunes that have been made by “hedge fund chiefs, Wall Street traders, and executives who sold their companies outright.” Nor did it include data related to exit packages, the multimillion-dollar “golden parachutes” awarded to retiring or fired executives.

The Journal’s findings underscore the parasitism and criminality of the US financial elite. Defenders have long justified extravagant CEO pay by claiming that these were the talented “risk-takers” who generated enormous wealth for investors. But the Journal’s data shows that there is no correlation between compensation and a firm’s success. On the contrary, many CEOs rewarded themselves just as their corporations approached ruin.

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http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/ceos-n28.shtml

[Frustratedlady]

1. This is obscene.

We need Martha to lead the way and make these wimps pay for their crimes.

I'd say it's time we demand an accounting, not only of what they did before the bailout, but where the money went AFTER the begged for help.

They threw Martha in jail for much less. Just look at the money they have uncovered, which doesn't include the little guys who were taking home bonuses and probably hiding them on the Mariana Islands, Swiss banks or some such. These people are now using our tax funds to bail out their sorry a**es. It is past time to demand accountability and action.

What more does it take? Paulson is supposedly worth over $700M and he's so nervous, he can't even stand still long enough to get a good mug shot. Enough!

[Generic Other]

2. Shouldn't they all go to jail like MArtha Stewart?

Jerks. Thieves. Leeches.