A more recent example of the inflated bonuses were touted on the news when Merrill Lynch top 696 CEOs received bonuses even though the company reported a $15 billion quarter loss and a $27 billion annual loss. The bailout package provided the much-needed income for these executives to receive over a million-dollar bonus with the top bonuses hovering at $30 million or more.
Not all CEOs are bad boys who receive bloated bonuses for doing an equally bad job. Some take the job as fiduciary and commander for their company quite seriously and go above and beyond the call of duty to make a profit or keep their company going, despite the odds. Consider the now CEO of JP Morgan Chase, Jamie Dimon who not only took over the ailing Bank One and saved it, he actually made it thrive. Among his first acts was to cut out the fat. He did this by cutting excess staff and withholding bonuses for executives, including his own. Dimon received repayment when Bank One merged with JP Morgan Chase and eventually he took over the as the Commander in Chief. His selection was excellent as he kept the company's head above water while others drown in the mire of a bad economy and the mortgage debacle.
Other CEOs that don't receive headlines include those at Omnicom. John Wren, Randall Weisenberger, Andrew Robertson, Charles Brymer and Thomas Harrison all received pay cuts so that the troops in the fields could get bonuses. This is not to say they went hungry since the lowest pay was $1.8 million dollars. Still their compensation slash saved the company around $21 million dollars and left it available for those whose paychecks don't reach the million-dollar mark.
The key to being a good executive is not necessarily the key to being a well-paid executive. Like a good mother or father that gives their time and loving devotion to a child, a great executive forgoes the ill-gotten glut of bonuses when unearned or at the detriment of the company. They protect the assets and the stockholders of the company while giving 100 percent. Their dedication is to the success of their charge rather than the excess of their pocketbook. The new trend in CEOs is honesty, dedication and success of the company over the bulge of their own pocketbook. Hard work and dedication isn't a new concept. It's the base that started America and made it thrive through the centuries. It is also the concept that will bring the economy back from the precipice and create new heroes in the world of business. Has the CEO cash cow dried up? It has, but in its place is an opportunity for those that possess the qualities of greatness to come to the foreground and secure their place in business history.
