U.S. special pay master for TARP Kenneth Feinberg said that Goldman-Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein’s recent $9 million bonus is still an excess bonus package, but he was quick to point out that the group has been following his “prescription” for better executive payout packages.
Feinberg spoke with Betty Liu of Bloomberg Television this morning about executive compensation packages, including the one given to Blankfein. Goldman-Sachs experienced some backlash after it followed reports of record profits the bonus package given to Blankfein. Feinberg, however, said that “these private companies…seem to be following the prescriptions that I’ve laid out.”
Those prescriptions, said Feinberg, are “modest, base-cash salaries” and bonuses in the form of stocks, which tie the individuals compensation with the overall results of the company.
But Feinberg also said, “the problem remains … of the high total compensation, which is very much in excess of what we are doing at Treasury in keeping total compensation much more modest.”
Watch the interview below: