BONUSES….Robert Rubin has apparently told the Citigroup board that all of them should forego their bonuses this year. Ezra Klein asks, what bonuses?
Am I missing the point of bonuses? I always understood them to be tied to performance, either that of the individuals or that of the company. But the company almost went bankrupt this year and the executives demonstrated themselves almost cosmically hapless. If they were going to get bonuses, then what could the term possibly mean? Bonus for what? A working cardiovascular system?
Silly boy. You expect these titans of risk to take an actual risk with their own pay? That’s not how it works in corporate America. When the stock market is skyrocketing, everyone gets stock options. When it’s tanking, suddenly everyone gets religion and takes their comp in cash and perks. As for bonuses, the range of payout is almost never the theoretical 0-100%. In reality, it’s more like 70-95% for the range of reasonably conceivable outcomes. If your company goes completely bankrupt, that might go down to 60%. Welcome to Wall Street.
