$1,400 Trash Can.

[stomachmonkey]

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6710368&page=1

Less than one month into his new gig at the Bank of America, Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain resigned today after it was revealed that he doled out executive bonuses a month ahead of schedule and just days before his struggling Merrill Lynch firm was acquired by the BofA.
Merrill Lynch CEO Spent Over $1M to Redecorate Office
A new report says that Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain spent over $1 million to redecorate his office.
(AP/ABC News)

Although no reason was given for his resignation, a spokesman for Bank of America, which acquired Merrill Lynch at the beginning of this year in a government-negotiated deal to save it from collapse, issued a statement saying: "(BofA Chairman and CEO) Ken Lewis flew to New York today to talk to John Thain. And it was mutually agreed that his situation was not working out and he would resign."

The amount in bonuses paid out was between $3 and $4 billion, according to the Financial Times. Exorbitant Wall St. bonuses have garnered increased attention since the economic collapse and subsequent billions in bailout funds have gone to help companies stay afloat.

Bonuses? Really?

[K. Roman]

Should trashcans even cost money?

[Hebrewhomeboy]

How can you even spend a million bucks on redecorating an office? Is that even possible without entering the realms of outright stupidly-excessive?

[Aurel]

In France, during the revolution, heads have been cut off for less than that...Bring the Guillotine back for these crooks!

[holtjv]

It's amazing crap like this is still allowed to happen. If only shareholders had had some visibility into where their money was going..

[svandamme]

wasn't that the guy who testified that it none of it was his fault, and that he didn't think his bonus should be returned, along with a Brit CEO of another bank?

[azasadny]

Don't the Board of Directors provide any oversight?

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by azasadny

Don't the Board of Directors provide any oversight?

In a word...no . Certainly not regarding an "internal expense" such as this, and really not even for salaries (bonuses) any more. Shareholders don't either in most cases (in reality). I'd love to appoint 10 of my "bestest buddies" and then we all sit around and decide how many (tens of) millions each of us should recieve for our brilliant corporate leadership and effectiveness.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Hebrewhomeboy

How can you even spend a million bucks on redecorating an office? Is that even possible without entering the realms of outright stupidly-excessive?

You think our bankrupt federal gov't. doesn't do this to the Oval Office every 4-8 yrs.? Pretty sure it's not too hard to spend that kind of money when it's someone else's money.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Something makes me think that they don't quite "get it".

[dhoward]

Somebody needs to walk up to him and kick him right in the nuts.

[Rick Lee]

I have to wonder why there's no outrage at the places that sell such overpriced crap like Neiman Marcus aka Needless Markups. I mean, everything there is just crazy expensive and most of it useless. Unless someone is using their personal funds to buy such stuff, seems to me there should be a lot of outrage directed at the sellers too.

[equality72521]

That's where they threw everyone's money. You can't dump millions into a $2 trash can!

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

I have to wonder why there's no outrage at the places that sell such overpriced crap like Neiman Marcus aka Needless Markups. I mean, everything there is just crazy expensive and most of it useless. Unless someone is using their personal funds to buy such stuff, seems to me there should be a lot of outrage directed at the sellers too.

Nah. By the same token, you`d have to be outraged at car brands that sells overpriced automobiles, like...Porsche.
It is not the responsibility of the seller to control where the funds are coming from. 100% the buyers responsibility.

[Rick Lee]

Honestly, I don't have a problem with it. I'd never do it with my own money, even if I had it, and I wouldn't do it with the company's money, even if it were budgeted. But hey, if they gave the guy a $1 million office redo budget, what did he do wrong? It's not like coming in under budget was gonna save one laid off worker's job.

[Superman]

Glad someone is spending money sensibly, frugally, efficiently......rather than letting a public agency get ahold of it.

[Gogar]

Hit 'im with a snowball. Or a pinecone.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

Honestly, I don't have a problem with it. I'd never do it with my own money, even if I had it, and I wouldn't do it with the company's money, even if it were budgeted. But hey, if they gave the guy a $1 million office redo budget, what did he do wrong? It's not like coming in under budget was gonna save one laid off worker's job.

I know that is your perspective Rick (from your posts over the years), but I find it appalling (not your perspective, the excess ). Thain oversaw Merrills' nosedive into noexistence, and then thought he deserved a 10 million dollar bonus for his efforts last year. He handed out nearly 4 BILLION dollars in ML bonuses a month early (just prior to the BOA takeover) in order to beat the deal. Now as BOA digests the "crap" that he left behind (with 45 BILLION in taxpayer dollars), nearly 35,000 people (some of them longtime friends of mine) will likely lose their jobs in the near future. Spending 1 million on his office "just because he can" truly is just a drop in the bucket, but damn, he cut the bottom out of the bucket. I personally am tired of executives earning 10s of millions (sometimes 100s) a year when it's at the expense of the corporation's coffers, employee jobs, etc.. This "excess" has become the de facto standard during the course of my 20+ year corporate experience, and no, "they" are not worth it imo. It's kind of like giving a 20 year old a 50 million dollar signing bonus and they don't even turn out to be a decent player, much less great. It's totally wacko imo...

edited: I just saw where Thain's "driver" was receiving a $230K salary per year...seems perfectly reasonable I suppose