HEADS I WIN HUGE, TAILS I WIN BIG!

That's the unofficial Wall Street CEO slogan and it's no wonder they don't want owners deciding how much top executives should get. The AP has a story about how several of the bunglers behind the Crunch fared - very well, if you need to know - and I hope this makes more people aware that the talk about the Free Market Fairy is really just a cover for corporate greed.

CEOs who got out before crisis left with millions
Sep 25 05:55 PM US/Eastern
By RACHEL BECK and ELLEN SIMON
AP Business Writers


NEW YORK (AP) - With a Wall Street bailout looming that will almost certainly limit CEO pay, some of the poster boys of the financial crisis have already fled the scene, taking millions of dollars in severance packages with them.

Stanley O'Neal walked away from Merrill Lynch with a package now worth about $66 million. Less than a year later, the storied investment house was forced into a takeover by Bank of America.

Ken Thompson was ousted from Wachovia in June with a "golden parachute" now worth more than $5 million, and Chuck Prince was forced out at Citigroup with a parting gift now valued at $16 million.

"These guys took all this risk, and ultimately they won't have to suffer the consequences of their decisions," said Barry Ritholtz, who writes the popular financial blog The Big Picture and is CEO of research firm FusionIQ.