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Dec. 23, 2009, 12:01 a.m. EST · Recommend (6) · Post:
By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Alfred Hitchcock once opened one of his shows by saying that "there's nothing to winning, really. That is, if you happen to be blessed with a keen eye, an agile mind and no scruples whatsoever."
But even the bejoweled Master of Suspense would have been horrified to see the lengths some folks went to in 2009 to achieve riches, power and fame.
While Hitch wasn't directly referring to Wall Street or politics, he most certainly could have been. Still, not everyone deemed a winner should be the target of our disdain and/or envy, just as not every pathetic wretch deserves our sympathies.
With that in mind, and for what it's worth, MarketWatch endeavors to take a look at some of this year's biggest stories, ranging from banking to the White House, and undertake the arduous task of separating the winners from the losers.
Winner: Lloyd Blankfein. Every bonus minted for the Goldman Sachs /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 163.65, -0.95, -0.58%) chief, even if it's just in stock form, is like billions of tiny daggers thrust in the hearts of struggling Americans everywhere.
Reuters Lloyd Blankfein.
Of course, Blankfein, who looks to be emerging from the world's financial crisis relatively unscathed, would say that's because most nonbillionaires just don't get the big picture. In fact, we should all be thankful because as Lloyd once told a reporter, he's just a banker "doing God's work."
Loser: Tim Geithner. He may not be able to buy beer without an ID, but he's BFF with the most powerful man in the world, and his Rolodex is littered with a who's who of Wall Street power brokers, even if they tend to screen his calls.
Reuters Timothy Geithner.
To be fair, Timmy has enjoyed some key wins along the way, like the bank stress tests. But double-digit unemployment, the weak dollar and the sluggish economic recovery certainly aren't helping his cause. And really, shouldn't the secretary of the U.S. Treasury have his own financial affairs in order before attempting to fix ours?
Winner: Robert Benmosche. The government and the American people were up in arms about executive bonuses, some of AIG's /quotes/comstock/13*!aig/quotes/nls/aig (AIG 29.50, -1.55, -5.00%) highest-paid shot callers had just seen their pay slashed by 91%, and the new CEO had just quit after toiling for an annual salary of $1.
Reuters Robert Benmosche.
Not exactly the kind of environment for a guy looking to get paid as a replacement chief executive. But get paid Benmosche did. To the tune of about $10.5 million. He didn't really sugarcoat it, either: "If you want me, you can have me, but you've got to pay."
Loser: Ed Liddy. Some men go off to war. Others wear shiny buttons and wave the flag. To show his love of country, Liddy signed on to lead the salvage efforts at AIG, the symbol of everything that had gone haywire in the U.S. financial system. What did this patriotic insurance mogul get for his troubles? A sound scolding from Congress and a one-way ticket out of town ... without enough compensation to pay for it.
Winner: Jamie Dimon. While government officials were busy eviscerating most of the investment-banking industry, President Obama actually said the J.P. Morgan Chase boss was doing "a pretty good job."
Reuters Jamie Dimon.
High praise, considering the frosty relationship between the White House and the financial industry these days. With Dimon's star reaching new heights and his bank flourishing, a career in politics could be in the works. But is America ready to have another Wall Street CEO at the Treasury? Perhaps by the time Geithner is done, the country will be willing to try anything.
Loser: Ken Lewis. From Congress to the board to institutional investors, the Bank of America CEO has been taking hits from all sides.
Reuters Ken Lewis.
While the pay scandal at Merrill Lynch was small potatoes compared with the AIG fiasco, Lewis nevertheless ended up forgoing compensation for 2009 and handing in his resignation ahead of schedule. Still, he earned about $30 million in the previous two years, so, as long as he has better luck making peace with the bears in Colorado than he did with federal regulators, he should be able enjoy a prolonged "staycation" at his mountain home.
- dschnitz | 12:27 a.m. Today12:27 a.m. Dec. 23, 2009
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