Executive Responsibility

Dick Fuld, CEO of Lehman Brothers, made US $490 million just from selling shares of the company over the years. Now that Lehman Brothers is bankrupt, he will lose his job and a lot of money. But he will still receive at least another $20 million on the way out. Dick Fuld will not have to work another day and still live filthily richly.

What of the small shareholders holding basically worthless stock? And all the other people who did not even realize they were investing in risky instruments ...

What about Merrill Lynch’s CEO? It was reported that John Thain stands to share a $200 million payout with two senior lieutenants. He was hired last December to steer the company out of trouble. It turned out Merrill Lynch had to be sold to the Bank of America within a year.

In a fairer world, top executives of a company would be held accountable for the performance of a company. In the case of catastrophic failures such as what happened to Lehman Brothers, Merriall Lynch, etc., they have gone off much too easily.

It seems the higher they get, the bigger the crock, and the more obscene the take. It is excesses like these that make the capitalist system seem such a pig for ordinary people.