Pay Czar Blocks Salary for Ken Lewis

Giant can't lure a star, turns to Brian Moynihan to succeed Ken Lewis

(AP) - Bank of America's board of directors today chose consumer banking chief Brian Moynihan to replace Ken Lewis as CEO on Jan. 1. Their pick of an internal candidate followed unsuccessful attempts to hire a star industry executive for the top job at the nation's largest bank. Those negotiations were stymied by restrictions imposed by government pay czar Kenneth Feinberg that would have forced an outsider to take a big pay cut this year. More»

(NEWSER) - Bank of America shareholders gave Ken Lewis a demotion today. Lewis will remain the bank's president and CEO, but he will lose his position as board chairman, the Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders—angry about the bank's plummeting fortunes of late—voted to split the chairman and CEO duties. Walter E. Massey will succeed Lewis in the post. More»

Outgoing CEO proves critics wrong and paves way for successor

(NEWSER) - Bank of America’s move to repay $45 billion in TARP funds marks a triumph for the rehabilitated institution and especially beleaguered CEO Ken Lewis. Wooing a replacement for the retiring Lewis was proving exceedingly difficult as candidates declined to try to run the company with government scrutiny of executive pay. Then the CEO, who abruptly announced his departure in October, solved the problem. More»

Benmosche, just 3 months in, is 4th CEO in 18 months

(NEWSER) - Just 3 months after taking the job, AIG CEO Robert Benmosche is threatening to storm out in a huff. At a directors’ meeting last week the voluble Benmosche, formerly of MetLife, told colleagues he was “done” with trying to operate the 80% taxpayer-owned company under federal supervision, particularly with regard to compensation. He made a similar stink in August when his own $10.5 million pay package was questioned, and won that battle. More»

Feinberg beefs up base base to help firms retain talent

(NEWSER) - Base pay will increase for the majority of top execs in the finance and auto firms supervised by federal pay czar Kenneth Feinberg. Salaries are being bumped up—by hundreds of thousands of dollars in some cases—as bonuses and other perks are slashed. Despite the salary hikes, all 136 execs at the seven firms overseen by Feinberg will end up making much less than last year. More»