( – promoted by buhdydharma )
Lazard Ltd, formerly known as Lazard Frères, gave away the “store” in bonuses to its employees to the tune of $565,000 per person. Lazard, unlike Goldman “Sacks” and other Wall St. investment agencies, did not receive any bail out money.
The firm doled out $616 million in compensation and benefits to about 2,300 employees last quarter, or more than triple the amount handed out in the same period in 2008. It was a consequence, Lazard said, of a decision to pay more bonuses in cash and accelerate some deferred cash awards from a prior year. But so great was the firm’s generosity that compensation costs overwhelmed quarterly revenues and resulted in a net loss of about $55 million for the fourth quarter. The charges also almost wiped out full-year profits.
(emphasis mine)
The explanation for this rapacious give away from Lazard’s Chief Executive Kenneth Jacobs rang just a little hollow
[Our compensation policies] should enhance our competitiveness and drive shareholder value,” Mr. Jacobs said, in a prepared statement. “Our goal is to grow annual compensation expense at a slower rate than revenues
The investor’s were just a little miffed
Investors weren’t happy, driving Lazard’s stock down by about 3% in midday trading.
h/t tigerwater @ FDL
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I was so tired and outraged when I read this early this morning that I started laughing and couldn’t stop, I suppose it was better than crying.
joined the “regular people” now. Send them annual updates in Ancient Sumerian, and everything’s okay. Can’t look to needy at the coctail parties with the Goldman’s, can they?
as giant giveaway machines, what use are they?
We did the TARP bailout, supposedly, to prompt banks to start lending again, to keep people in business. But the Fed prints money and borrows it. It is this borrowed and printed worthless paper that is being eventually lent to people as per the equation money=debt, but all the lesser banks are doing is computational in nature, whilst skimming the cream off the top.
If all or much of what the banks are going to do is function as bonus machines — why should the economy of the nation run through them in the first place.
The federal government could take over lending and let the private banks choose to do or not do any given thing based on their own calculations as to what is best for themselves. Or they could be bypassed by a community lending system.
giveaway of profits that should be distributed to them as dividends, they deserve to be robbed blind. Where’s the lawsuit?