Bonanza Retirement Goodies for Merrill Lynch CEO
In today's issue, New York Times reporter Eric Dash ("The Price of Any Departure Will Be at Least $159 Million") writes that Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal will be well off if asked to resign. With $30 million in retirement benefits, along with $129 million in "stock and option holdings," this is one top executive who won't need to celebrate National Save for Retirement week. Dash goes on to say that O'Neal is far from unique in tems of post-employment largesse for CEOs.
This blogger, a staunch advocate of pay-for-performance, is no critic of scrimping for those who create shareholder wealth (though, in the case of Merrill, large surprise losses are hard to explain as wealth-creating). Still, the constrast between those who are likely to find retirement a harsh financial reality, versus those who will quit in style, gives one pause.
