Merrill Lynch's CEO John Thain Looking For Huge Bonus

Image via WikipediaMerrill Lynch's CEO John Thain is looking for a 10 million dollar bonus package. Merrill Lynch has lost over 11 billion dollars this year.

If you remember John took over Merrill Lynch at the end of 2007. He received a signing bonus of $15 million. And his salary was set at $750,000 per year. And the Merrill Lynch stock was trading at about $50 a share.

During the course of the year John tried a few things that didn't quite pan out for him. So to keep from going under they were sold to the Bank of America. And of course John helped with that project and set himself up with a nice position.

Today the stock price is around $15. And many jobs will be lost. The stockholders have taken a HUGE loss.

Just what is a bonus? In my eyes a bonus is extra compensation for a job well done? I guess that I am wrong.

Here is how I think it should work. A CEO should be paid based on performance. If he takes over a company and increases the profits, the board should give him a portion of those profits. However, if the company loses money, he should get no bonus, and present a plan to the board as to why it happened and what HE is going to do to change it. The plan should also have a timeline attached to insure that it happens. If he can't do the job he should be let go and replaced by someone who can!

I think about all of the people who are struggling, looking for jobs, and losing sleep at nights worrying about how they are going to pay their bills, and then you have people who actually think that it is acceptable to lose 11 BILLION dollars and then ask for a 10 million dollar bonus.

Does this rank right up there with flying in a private jet to beg for bailout money, or is it even worse? I can't wait to see what the board of Merrill Lynch decides!