TOO RICH TO PENALIZE

The Masters of the Universe sure can take care of their own. One of the idiots at Citigroup who had a hand in the Big ShitPile is getting tens of millions of dollars. I guess there just isn't a financial downside for these folks, which is why I claim that Wall Street is one giant moral hazard.

Citigroup's Klein Gets $42.6 Million Under Exit Pact (Update2)

By Josh Fineman and Bradley Keoun

July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. investment-banking Chairman Michael Klein, who's stepping down in September, will get $42.6 million after agreeing not to work for a competitor through October 2009.


Klein gets a $5.5 million award on Aug. 1, plus $21.3 million in March 2009 and $7.5 million in October 2009, the New York-based bank said today in a regulatory filing. He also gets to keep $8.3 million in previously awarded stock, a person briefed on the package said.

Klein was denied a bonus for 2007 after the bank reported a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter loss. Instead, he was awarded $19.3 million in ``deferred cash retention awards'' and ``retention equity awards,'' Citigroup said in a regulatory filing in March.