Corporate welfare queen CEO eyes $200 million payout

Only in the financial industry can you see such sickening payouts. That every contract and every payout wasn't scrapped in exchange for a public bailout says a lot about how much Wall Street owns both parties in Washington.

Bloomberg:

Citigroup Inc. (C) Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit, who took a $1 salary after his bank received the most taxpayer assistance of any U.S. lender, is poised to collect $80 million from other payments and awards that may eventually total more than $200 million.

Pandit, 54, will get the $80 million from Citigroup’s purchase of his Old Lane Partners LP hedge fund tomorrow, according to regulatory filings. The deal brought him to the lender in July 2007. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), which remained profitable through the financial crisis, has disclosed about $90 million in awards for CEO Jamie Dimon since 2007.

“Pandit, his $1 pay notwithstanding, cannot be considered modestly paid,” said Graef Crystal, a compensation expert and Bloomberg News consultant based in Las Vegas. “Taxpayers saved this bank, and he’s getting a bundle while shareholders are getting shortchanged on the stock price.”