WASHINGTON (AFP) — The chief executive of troubled Wall Street firm Merrill Lynch is seeking a 10-million-dollar bonus this year in the midst of a financial crisis which plunged his company into dire straits, US media reported Monday.
John Thain, who took the reins of the securities firm one year ago, has suggested to its directors that he be payed the multi-million-dollar 2008 bonus but the company's compensation committee is resisting, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, the newspaper said the committee and full board were to meet Monday to hear Thain's bonus requests for himself and other top executives of the firm that suffered billions of dollars in losses this year and narrowly avoided collapse by selling itself to Bank of America.
The differences over Thain's bonus highlights the swirling broader debate on Wall Street over bonus payouts and giant salaries for executives amid a global financial crisis and a credit crunch that has been blamed in part on Wall Street firms, some of which have gone bankrupt.
Merrill Lynch has been forced to sell itself to seek fresh capital after making huge losses following the meltdown in the subprime, or higher risk, US mortgage market.
Thain's decision to sell to Bank of America for 50 billion dollars averted a possible collapse of the 94-year-old company, saving shareholders billions of dollars and saving many jobs, the Journal reported.
It said a proposal was sent to Merrill's compensation committee a few months ago for Thain to be paid more than 30 million dollars for the year including bonuses, but that figure has since come down.
On Friday, during a vote to approve Bank of America's takeover of Merrill Lynch, Merrill shareholders laid into the company's board.
"This is the story of failed leadership and the failure of a board of directors to understand what was happening to this great company, and its failure to take action soon enough," Winthrop Smith Jr, the son of one of the company's founding partners, was quoted as saying.
Merrill stock was trading above 50 dollars when Thain took over in late 2007, but shares have dropped steadily, and closed Friday at 13.04 dollars per share.
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