Well, As They Say

…”the Grasso’s always greener on the other side”. Better luck next time to YOU, Dick.

Former New York Stock Exchange chairman Richard Grasso will have to repay “tens of millions of dollars” to the Big Board after a court rejected his motion to dismiss certain claims, the New York Attorney General’s office said on Thursday.
…New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer sued Grasso in 2004 for return of some of the $187.5 million in salary, bonuses and retirement compensation plans he received….
Judge Ramos denied Grasso’s bid to seek damages from the NYSE over losing his job in 2003, concluding that Grasso had resigned and was not fired as he had claimed.
…Grasso, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, sought $48 million in compensation, plus interest, that he said was still due him.

4 Responses to “Well, As They Say”

1. Sharon Ferguson says:

   October 19, 2006 at 4:42 pm

   ACK!! For a moment there I did a double take – I had a professor in college named Grasso…I was wondering…what has Dr. Grasso gotten himself into NOW?! But then I think the most common sin with him was playing bad pool…
   *WAVES*
   I know I havent said hello in a long long time, but I do drop by periodically to read!! Hope all is well!

2. Mr. Bingley says:

   October 19, 2006 at 5:41 pm

   Hi Sharon!
   I have to disagree with you here Sis; I think he is due every penny. Oh, I’m not really sure he earned it all, mind you, but the NYSE had a Board of Trustees that set up his compensation package and approved every bit of it. If someone should be getting sued it should be them, not him. You can’t go change a contract after the fact just because it gets bad press or you realize you made a mistake.

3. tree hugging sister says:

   October 19, 2006 at 6:20 pm

   Hey ya, Sharon!!
   And I disagree with YOU, ha HAH! Jack Welch had to fork back some when it came to light just how dee-lightfully outrageous his compensation package was. He had the sense to do it himself.
   And the board didn’t sue Grasso ~ the State of New York did because it WAS so egregious. (And because he was pissing and moaning for another $48 million.) When and where IS the ‘convening authority’ supposed to step in? Ken Lay had HIS company ~ no one questioned what happened until the looting destroyed it.
   The NYSE Board was, in effect, looting the company for one individual. My understanding is that Grasso basically dictated the terms of the compensation as well ~ “the hand-picked compensation committee consisted mainly of representatives from NYSE-listed companies over which Grasso had regulatory authority as head of the Exchange.”
   Part of today’s ruling says:

   The ruling also said that Grasso had breached his fiduciary duties by failing to disclose to the NYSE compensation committee the amounts he was due under certain plans.
   
   “That a fiduciary of any institution, profit or not-for-profit, could honestly admit that he was unaware of a liability of over $100 million, or even over $36 million, is a clear violation of the duty of care,” Ramos wrote.

   When you don’t present all the facts to benefit your own pocket/contract? That sounds like looting to me.

4. Dave J says:

   October 20, 2006 at 6:54 pm

   Well, I’m torn: Grasso is a weasel, but Spitzer’s hardly pure as the driven snow, either.