The Times of London is looking completely incompetent in the wake of the revelation that Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) CEO Lloyd Blankfein received a 2009 bonus of only $9 Million after leading the company to record profits. The Times asserted Blankein’s bonus could reach as high as $100 million.
Even more important and a great public relations move by the company, Blankfein will receive none of that in cash but in stock he will have to hold for a minimum of five years.
Amazingly, even those with much more conservative estimates of what Blankfein would receive in bonuses were way off and surprised by the low numbers.
Another strange consequence of Blankfein’s pay is there are those questioning the process and what the board of Goldman Sachs used to determine the bonus paid to Blankfein. Some are asking how he ended up with almost half as much as J.P. Morgan CEO, Jamie Dimon, who will be rewarded with a bonus worth $17 million.
Bizarre when you think the press was ready to throw Blankfein and Goldman Sachs to the lions in anticipation of the outrageous bonus they for the most part believed he was going to get, now to turn around and begin to question how he was paid so little. It’s almost like the low bonus ruined their opportunity to blast Goldman again and generate some negative press. The fun was all taken out of it by the actions of the board.
There was also a lot of cynicism being thrown around concerning Blankfein’s bonus as well, with some saying he’s postitioning himself for bigger pay days in the future. This of course makes little sense, as he could have been awarded a large bonus for 2009, take a little heat for a while, and still get paid major bonuses in the future. The performance of the company could easily have been used to make the case for more pay.
In the end, the bonus rewarded to Blankfein, and to 29 other top executives at the company, who will also receive bonuses of stock which has to be held for five years, which also includes clawback provisions, essentially shuts up all those in the press who were ready to run with the “outrage” they were really hoping would happen.
Goldman won this round hands down, as everyone is scratching their heads wondering how the story they wanted to write escaped them. The Times of London and their assertion Blankfein could be awarded up to $100 million made anything much less than that a winner. They more than anybody have made the Goldman move look good because of that.
