E*Trade CEO Paid Obscene Amounts

from the there-goes-another-one dept

It's amazing that failing companies continue to give their senior execs ridiculous compensation plans. The latest is Christos Cotsakos, CEO of E*Trade, who took in $4.9 million while his company lost $241 million. This also doesn't mention the $15 million loan they forgave, the additional $15.2 million they gave him to pay taxes associated with that loan, the $29 million in stock they gave him, and the $9 million they contributed to his retirement plan. I'm sorry. But, if you're receiving $5 million in salary and bonus, I really don't think the company needs to contribute (nearly twice your salary, no less) to your "retirment" fund. I think you should be able to handle that all by yourself. Even better is that an E*Trade spokesperson is quoted as saying that the compensation package "reflects the success the company has had under his leadership". The company lost $241 million. Even I could have successes like that, but no one is paying me millions of dollars to do so. Even the compensation expert the article talks to basically shrugs his shoulders and wonders if the board of directors is just stupid.