The fact of the matter is that $52 million of Grasso's supposed compensation was NOT "deferred" compensation as many of you have been lead to believe, but instead was an ACCELERATION of his pension!
So, as a result of this acceleration of receiving his pension, Mr. Grasso could leave the NYSE tomorrow because he has no incentive whatsoever of staying. So much for the incentive arguement!
Moreover, NYSE members saw a "technology" fee imposed on them that wound-up running between 5 and 10% of their gross. Members who were paying the exchange $1800 per month in fees, saw their monthly nut go up to $17,000. Recently, this technology fee was terminated, without any explanation to the membership whatsoever.
So tell me this . . .
If you are a member of the NYSE and you found-out that some of the so-called "deferred" compensation wasn't really deferred, but was instead an acceleration of Grasso's pension, AND you found out that he made $12 million last year when the exchange only booked a profit of $28 million, wouldn't you be a bit pissed-off if as a member of the NYSE you saw 5-10% of your gross get taken away for a so-called "technology" fee when that money could have come from Grasso's compensation?
By the way, let's not forget that Grasso's peak pay was $25.6 million in 2001, and this was during a time of declining volume and floor broker scandals on the Big Board!
Furthermore, Grasso enjoyed an 8% guaranteed return on one-tenth of his total compensation. This is just a wee bit unusual because most executive retirement plans peg their returns to vary with interest rates. For being basically a "regulator", Grasso has made out like a bandit and I believe that the members will wind-up forcing him out.
Putting things in a bit of perspective, here are the salaries of other notable financial figures:
William Donaldson, SEC Chairman $142,500
Alan Greenspan, FED Chairman $171,900
Henry Paulson, Goldman, CEO $9,000,000
Mel Karmazin, Viacom, CEO $20,200,000
So, as a result of this acceleration of receiving his pension, Mr. Grasso could leave the NYSE tomorrow because he has no incentive whatsoever of staying. So much for the incentive arguement!
Moreover, NYSE members saw a "technology" fee imposed on them that wound-up running between 5 and 10% of their gross. Members who were paying the exchange $1800 per month in fees, saw their monthly nut go up to $17,000. Recently, this technology fee was terminated, without any explanation to the membership whatsoever.
So tell me this . . .
If you are a member of the NYSE and you found-out that some of the so-called "deferred" compensation wasn't really deferred, but was instead an acceleration of Grasso's pension, AND you found out that he made $12 million last year when the exchange only booked a profit of $28 million, wouldn't you be a bit pissed-off if as a member of the NYSE you saw 5-10% of your gross get taken away for a so-called "technology" fee when that money could have come from Grasso's compensation?
By the way, let's not forget that Grasso's peak pay was $25.6 million in 2001, and this was during a time of declining volume and floor broker scandals on the Big Board!
Furthermore, Grasso enjoyed an 8% guaranteed return on one-tenth of his total compensation. This is just a wee bit unusual because most executive retirement plans peg their returns to vary with interest rates. For being basically a "regulator", Grasso has made out like a bandit and I believe that the members will wind-up forcing him out.
Putting things in a bit of perspective, here are the salaries of other notable financial figures:
William Donaldson, SEC Chairman $142,500
Alan Greenspan, FED Chairman $171,900
Henry Paulson, Goldman, CEO $9,000,000
Mel Karmazin, Viacom, CEO $20,200,000
There is a good reason Cramer is such an arse lick...he is cut in for a piece of the action.