Posted on 10/23/2009 7:46:45 AM PDT by Biggirl
Exactly right. Thought I said spurious, specious is an even better description.
The way our incentive was structured was based on my department, but with a multiplier based on company performance. If the company failed to hit targets, the bonus multiplier was zero. And we know what something times nothing comes up to.
My first bonus was more than $50k. (And that did not count options and stock grants! I was a happy boy!) I almost fell off my chair, as I was not even aware that there WAS such a plan (we had been acquired and I was the only senior officer carried over—a point that was not lost on me, but evidently it was lost on the HR department.) I had a little bit of guilt because the front line people would see quarterly bonuses in the hundreds of dollars. But, I took it, paid the taxes and paid off all of my debt and bought my wife a new car and some fun.
If the front line knew my compensation, they would have rioted.
My point in addition to agreeing yours is this whole conversation is going to cause a lot of people to actually read those annual reports. That would be interesting.
Do you still live there?
Another note about Wall Street, while I certainly found it too be surprisingly generous to successful investment bankers and traders, I probably would, in retrospect, have chosen a different career.
I majored in what use to be called econometrics and had an opportunity to continue toward my doctorate and then go on to an academic career (probably doing dusty research in a basement with a bunch of eggheads) or to go to Wall Street.
IMO, I chose poorly.
Now that I am retired (well, semi-retired), I know there is a lot besides making money and, in fact, am a little ashamed of myself.
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