The head of failed US investment bank Lehman Brothers has told Congress that he took home about $300m in pay and bonuses over the past eight years.
Richard Fuld, whose firm went bankrupt last month, made the statement during testimony before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
that took home is crucial, because he basically cashed in.
Mr Fuld said he took “full responsibility for the decisions that I made and for the actions that I took” and defended his actions as “prudent and appropriate” based on information he had at the time.
“I feel horrible about what happened,” he added.
Lehman’s failure set off a financial panic which prompted a $700bn rescue package approved by Congress last week.
why isn’t this guy required to surrender any money he made and then be sent to some sort of correctional facility? or at least made to go work in some steel mill in Guanghzou or wherever they’re coming up nowadays?
important update he got a little bit of what was coming
special free-market update: I’ll have what he’s having!
doop HQ 
Newt’s sci-fi novels where the Confederacy wins the US Civil War are more believable than that column.
And aif, we can’t ask CEOs to give their bonuses back, because that would be communism, and that makes Baby Jesus cry.
A weeping Baby Jesus aside, writing a new law that would justify imprisonment or forfeiture for past behavior would likely violate the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws. Now, we can tax the snot out of him, and his brethren, as we should do in order to pay for this mess. And, as important, we need to adopt proactive regulation so that the next scumbags who do this sort of thing do get prison time.
oh, the constitution? you mean the servilleta of american politics?
i think this guy deserves federal prison time, and i mean the pound-me-in-the-ass type.
No, the Constitution that is the ideal of American politics. Imperfectly and rarely realized, but often enough to allow people to do the right thing.
The guy’s a greedhead, no doubt about it. He’s certainly incompetent. That doesn’t by itself make him a criminal. Give me a fair tax system and a good set of regulations going forward and his replacement won’t try the same thing.
I love your tags on this post, aif!