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October 12, 2008 9:30:46 PM CDT

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Former NYSE Chief Wins Fight for $187M Pay

Posted Jul 2, 08 5:45 AM CDT in Business 

(Newser) – The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange has won an ugly 4-year battle to retain a mammoth $187.5 million compensation package.  A New York appeals court  dismissed an action initiated by then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer challenging the payout for Dick Grasso as excessive, the Wall Street Journal reports. Grasso was ousted in 2003 after details of his pay package surfaced, sparking a nasty confrontation between Spitzer and Grasso, as well as the NYSE directors who approved the deal.

The state had argued that Grasso’s compensation was unreasonably high under New York regulations governing a not-for-profit company. But the court ruled that the state lost its right to sue when the NYSE became a for-profit company in 2006. “I’ve always had confidence in the system,” Grasso said. “After five years of this, it’s over, and it’s time to move on.”

Source Wall Street Journal

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Dick Grasso answers questions during a news conference at the New York Stock Exchange in this 2002 file photo. To his right stands Eliot Spitzer, the state's attorney general at time.   (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
In this 2007 file photo, former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard A. Grasso leaves the state Supreme Court in Manhattan after a hearing on his $187.5 million compensation package.   (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
A floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange watches a television interview with former NYSE Chairman Richard Grasso, Tuesday, July 1, 2008.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Gerson Zweifach argues before the Court of Appeals in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Zweifach said Grasso was paid reasonably four years ago for an outstanding career.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
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Eliot Spitzer  • New York Stock Exchange  • executive compensation  • appeal  • Dick Grasso


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