Morgan Stanley Chief Executive to be quite dissatisfied with his year-end bonus

By Alexandra Steblinina. It seems that Morgan Stanley Chief Executive John Mack will get no year-end bonus – but he is not the only one disappointed CEO.

Photo: Morgan Stanley Chief Executive to be quite dissatisfied with his year-end bonus

Morgan Stanley was forced to take $9.4 billion in writedowns during its fourth fiscal quarter, which ended Nov. 30 amid bad bets on securities backed by mortgages.

Since its founding in 1935, Morgan Stanley and its people have helped redefine the meaning of financial services. The firm has continually broken new ground in advising clients on strategic transactions, in pioneering the global expansion of finance and capital markets, and in providing new opportunities for individual and institutional investors.

But this year was quite disappointing.

Mack received a stock and option bonus in 2006 that, at the time of the award, was worth $40 million.

Top executives at Bear Stearns Cos., including Chief Executive James Cayne, may forego year-end bonuses as well, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday. Bear Stearns will report its results for the quarter Thursday morning.

Like Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns is expected to report losses and billions of dollars in writedowns for its fiscal fourth quarter.

The company was founded in 1923 and serves corporations, institutions, governments and individuals. The company's business includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services.

Through Bear Stearns Securities Corp., it offers global clearing services to broker dealers, prime broker clients and other professional traders, including securities lending.

Bear Stearns is also known for one of the most widely read market intelligence pieces on the street, known as the "Early Look at the Market - Bear Stearns Morning View."

It is not all bad news for all Wall Street executives, though. Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Richard Fuld will receive a $35 million stock award as an end-of-the-year bonus.

Lehman Brothers said last week its fourth-quarter profit was $870 million, as it was able to negate most of its $3.5 billion in writedowns through hedging.

In recent years Fuld has ranked in the upper tier of executive compensation. Forbes Magazine lists Fuld as a billionaire, ranking him number 374 on its Forbes 400 list of richest Americans.

In 2006, Fuld was named #1 CEO in the Brokers & Asset Managers category, by Institutional Investor magazine.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has yet to announce how much its chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, will receive, but some reports estimate he will take home as much as $70 million.

Goldman Sachs was largely able to avoid the mortgage market mess that has plagued its competitors in recent months.

As Pravda.ru previously reported, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. 3-quarter profit rose to 3.17 billion dollars (2.2 billion euros), or $7.01 per share, from $3.10 billion, or $6.59 per share in the year-ago period.

Such results easily beat Wall Street expectations for the fiscal fourth quarter, driven by gains in its investment banking and financial advisory segments.

The world’s largest investment bank’s revenue rose to $10.74 billion (EUR7.46 billion) from $9.41 billion a year earlier.

Results surpassed Wall Street projections for a profit of $6.87 per share on revenue of $10.16 billion (EUR7.06 billion), according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Goldman's stock climbed 29 percent during the fourth quarter to close November at $226.64. The stock rose $3.27 to $211.90 in premarket electronic trading.

Though he will not officially receive an year-end bonus, Merrill Lynch & Co.'s new CEO, John Thain, took home a $15 million cash bonus just for taking the job. Thain took over as CEO Dec. 1.

Thain replaced Stanley O'Neal, who was forced to retire after the investment bank took nearly $8 billion in writedowns in the third quarter.