Virginia Senator Jim Webb Nails the Most Excessive Wall Street CEO Salaries

Amid the Wall Street Bailout, a Typical Wall Street CEO Makes 400 Times as Much as a Typical Worker

Jim Webb, the first-term Democratic U.S. Senator from Virginia, was one of the rare politicians early this year with the foresight to predict that Wall Street would go belly-up. The only thing Jim Webb didn't seem to know was that there would be a $700 billion Wall Street bailout.

"The United States government does not directly invest in corporations here or elsewhere. To do so would be a conflict of interest between the fiduciary roles of government and freedom of the marketplace," Webb wrote in his political and autobiographical treatise, A Time to Fight.

Elected in 2006, in an upset over former Virginia Republican Governor George Allen, Webb has shown far more foresight than many of his more experienced peers. Furthermore, as American citizens wonder about obscene salaries and bonuses and golden parachutes for the CEOs, Webb offers specifics.

For example, Citigroup is on the membership list for Wall Street bailouts. Current Citigroup top executives may have to tighten their belts, but Jim Webb reports that the deposed CEO Chuck Prince (aptly named) walked away with $100 million in severance benefits. President Bush and Congress and the Treasury Department can't be retroactive with compensation limitations, but when you think corporate welfare, think Chuck Prince.

Merrill Lynch doesn't join Citigroup on the Wall Street bailout list, but Merrill Lynch has had its troubles. Chief Executive Stan O'Neal had "earned" $160 million over a five-year span while Merrill Lynch lost $8 billion, Jim Webb notes. To get rid of Stan O'Neal, the Merrill Lynch board paid him another $160 million.

Morgan Stanley's CEO, John Mack, copped a $40 million bonus while Morgan Stanley lost $3.6 billion. Worse yet, says Senator Jim Webb, Morgan Stanley partially resolved its troubles by allowing the Chinese government to directly invest $5 billion, which translates to 10 percent ownership. China's total investment in the Wall Street economy now exceeds $1 trillion.