Wasserstein death triggers $188 million payout
Filed under: Company News
One of the provisions in Bruce Wasserstein's comp package as CEO of Lazard (LAZ) was a payout of 4.4 million restricted shares in the investment bank upon his death. The shares have been vesting for four years according to a number of media sources. Based on the current price of Lazard's stock, the value of the payment is about $188 million. The money is due 30 days after he dies and will presumably go to his estates and heirs.
The payment highlights Wasserstein's importance to Lazard, but it also shows the gulf in compensation between firms that took federal money during the credit crisis and those, like Lazard, that did not. As the financial markets collapsed, Lazard apparently did fine. Its shares dipped during the March market sell-off, but it was never mentioned as a candidate for aid. As a firm with a primary business of advising M&A and corporate finance clients, its balance sheet never contained assets that would severely compromise its earnings. Lazard's bottom line was affected, but mostly as a result of a drop in its banking fees and income from its asset management business. The company made $41 million in the June quarter.
Because its business is so different from banks and most other investment houses, Lazard is free to compensate its executives as it sees fit.
The Wasserstein payout may seem obscene, and perhaps it is; Lazard's entire market cap is only $3.3 billion. The firm's board, however, had to ask itself what its CEO's contribution to the firm was worth. That answer was clearly that he was worth a great deal.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 24/7 Wall St.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
10-16-2009 @ 8:07AM
dave said...
I am sure much of this payout will go to charity like a new hospital wing in NYC Cornell Hospital named the Wasserstein Pavilion.
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11-16-2009 @ 1:28PM
Louie Bantis said...
And then we have millions of people who can't afford to feed their families, or pay the rent. But our gov't. permits it, case closed!
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10-16-2009 @ 4:52PM
Robert said...
You are a complete moron. Read the post by "luckysunday22." He speaks intelligently and reasonably. So many people think that just because someone works hard and makes large sums of money for himself AND his investors that they are a crook. It's called risk and reward. IT'S NOT A CRIME TO MAKE MONEY!
10-16-2009 @ 6:46PM
Joe said...
Sadly it is not our Government anymore Congress is bought and paid for my the likes of Wall Street. The people should get off their butts and throw all the people out and start a party that prohibits any lobby money. There are 6 Lobbyists now for ever congress member and 1% of them if that are invested in the public welfare
10-16-2009 @ 9:34AM
novels1955 said...
Let this guy rest in peace and keep the jealousy out of comments. He worked hard for a living, a concept that many posters forget while vilifying rich people. Hard work and investments pay off, whining only gets government handouts. The government should never bail out rich or poor or regulate what companies pay their employees.
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10-16-2009 @ 11:01AM
sheryl said...
Really? The government bails out, or assists, the rich all along the way. Most of us have worked just as hard, and are just as intelligent, as these greedy bastards; we just don't have the connections or choose to work in a field that actually helps others, not just ourselves.
10-16-2009 @ 10:11AM
noname said...
The main thing in america is, 90% of the money is controled by 10% of the people.
It is not dems vs reps. It is a class war and will stay that way untill we change it. Power to the people !!
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10-17-2009 @ 8:16AM
vernon said...
well said chareman mow couldent have said it better
10-16-2009 @ 10:55AM
Joe Turner said...
Its mainly just us, and primarily only in the last 25 years or since Reagan was President.
Or, mark it as the story behind "Wall Street" where Gordon Gecko teachs that "Greed is good !"
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10-16-2009 @ 11:31AM
curmudgeon said...
Ah, yes...give the power to the people and with their past and current intellectual capabilities, that power will revert, likely within weeks, to where it was. The gift of choice should never be given wholly to a politician...maybe to a Statesman...but never to a politician.
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10-16-2009 @ 12:10PM
Glenn said...
I vote that we give the restoration to pre-Reagan tax rates a try............the country was undoubtedly in better shape when incomes were more equal than they are today in the land of rick or poor ! Republicans constantly chant about how much better America is than other countries so why is it they are trying so hard to make us a third world country with no middle class...........Contrary to wealthy opinion, the pie is only so large and needs to be shared by ALL !
10-16-2009 @ 12:26PM
luckysunday22 said...
Why are you so interested in other peoples money? Did you not read the article? This man made billions of dollars for his firm, which, in turn, made millions of dollars for other citizens. I would call that helping other people. Furthermore, who are you to say how much is enough? Last I checked, this is still America and you are FREE to do whatever you want as long as it’s legal. I see nothing illegal here. These people aren’t playing with our money, they are playing with private money. If he fails, the people who invested with him fails.
This class worship and envy that you espouse in your posts are similar to those made in the Communist Manifesto where it was “Workers of the World Unite.” Is that the kind of country you want to live in? Are you at all familiar with American history and what has made this country great? You need to look up what the Founding Fathers believed in and what type of government they were running away from when they founded this country. No one in this country, NO ONE, should have the right to determine what someone else makes or aspires to make. EVERYONE in this country has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and when you attempt to limit what one person can make or what they can do for a living, you are violating the Declaration of Independence, a document which encompasses the American Dream.
So I urge you to bone up on your American history, instead of comparing the greatest nation on the face of the earth to minor countries like Japan, England or Korea, which, if it weren’t for the patriots of THIS country, wouldn’t be the country they are today.
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10-16-2009 @ 2:04PM
Mike said...
I'll say this yet again, so that the dumbest of people will understand it. Corporate boards are the ones who give these insane compensation packages to bigwigs. Understand this: If a board member, himself a CEO type, gives CEO of corporation A a huge package, then that CEO, when sitting on the board of corporation B, gives that CEO a huge package--and so on down the line until it comes full circle and everybody gets their beaks wet. Who should be gone after here? CORPORATE BOARD MEMBERS. It's a license to steal.
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10-16-2009 @ 4:04PM
Ann said...
This is sad that a man would be entitle to 188 milion dollars after his death.Where are the Rush Limbaugh and the negative complainers that ,this money need to be given out in all 50 states for the poor and working class.I am sure what he did may have been under the radar of legality but greed and scams are never right in any country.Sympathy for the family but all those greedy high profile scammers should be aware that all they are gathering they will not enjoy,its laid up for the righteous to inherit on earth.Thanks.
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10-16-2009 @ 4:10PM
Rock Fossil said...
There is a latin idiom, "Divide et Impera", literally translated means Divide and Rule, the tool of wealthy corporatists and elitist politicians.There is a weapon however; "Vox Populi, Vox Dei", translation: The Voice of the People is the Voice of God coupled with "E Pluribus Unum"...out of Many come One. This is the true strength of "We the People" to stay focused for our own self interests and know the truth. I will begin by presenting the basis of all truths and how it relates to the abysmal situation we find our country, our economy and our world in today. I promise you, you will not find this information anywhere in today's diluted, scripted Media outlets be it on TV, Radio or in newspaper print
G. Edward Griffin is a sheer genius! Why pay $100 for a financial seminar to tell you a lie. Wall street is a casino, Banks are the cash cages and you and I are the dummies pulling the handles.....take 42minutes and 15 seconds to educate yourself in a way that even bankers aren't schooled in. Take this viral folks.....send it to 10 people you love enough to wake them up to the truth of how we have been taken in a very large way! It won't cost you dime and if you think this is part of a conspiracy, just look around you and see how what you will watch is exactly what you are seeing taking place in real time.
Click on the link or copy and paste:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6507136891691870450#
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10-16-2009 @ 4:10PM
David S. said...
"Villifying the rich?" You must be joking....if this guy had a $188 million dollar life insurance policy that HE had been paying for (and could have easily afforded) I wouldn't say anything. The board must have been drunk when they agreed to this outrageous payout upon his death.
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10-16-2009 @ 4:58PM
Robert said...
Well said. And Sheryl, you too are a moron. There are many people who are rich and made their money by working hard and smart and WITHOUT ANY HANDOUTS FROM ANYONE. I'm fortunate to have parents that are well off because they worked hard and saved and never borrowed money from anyone nor did they take handouts from anyone. Get real. Stop whinning and get to work!
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10-16-2009 @ 5:05PM
Robert said...
Ann...who are you to dictate what this man is paid whether he's alive or dead. Yes, it is a hugh amount of money but as was stated earlier, he worked for a private, extremely successfull company and made them millions of dollars. If I told you I could make you $100 million dollars, would you pay me $10 million to do it? Bet you would.
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10-21-2009 @ 3:20PM
thom said...
The Wasserstein payout may seem obscene, and perhaps it is; Lazard's entire market cap is only $3.3 billion. The firm's board, however, had to ask itself what its CEO's contribution to the firm was worth. That answer was clearly that he was worth a great deal.
HE IS PRAISED BY HIS HMAN COLLEAGUES - LET'S SEE HOW GOD DEALS WITH SUCH RECKLESS IGNORANCE. THE MAN SPENT HE LIFE OBLIGING MANS SYSTEMS AND GATHERING HIS WEALTH
- BUT IN GOD'S EYES- HE WONT BE SO FAVORED.
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10-16-2009 @ 5:46PM
Rob said...
Well said lucky!!!!!
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