http://ruleofreason.blogspot.com/2003_09_14_archive.html#106398226748248672
Dick Grasso deserves to be saluted, not punished! Shame on Hank Paulson of Goldman Sachs, Philip Purcell of Morgan Stanley, and William Harrison of JP Morgan Chase and the other members of the board of the NYSE for not having the guts to stand by THEIR decision to give Dick Grasso the reward he surely deserved for devoting 35 years - THIRTY-FIVE YEARS!!!!! - of his life to the New York Stock Exchange!
He's getting - what? $135 million for what he's done for the NYSE? What does that work out to per year for the 35 years he was at NYSE?
I wanted to try to comment on the motives of the type of person who will ride on someone else's shoulders to get where they want to go and then turn around and kick them out of the way when they thought it was expedient,
"But it was the diminutive son of Italian immigrants who defended NYSE floor brokers and retail investors from a new era of impersonal electronic trading. Some thanks he got: Many of these same floor brokers helped push Grasso over the edge."
but I don't have the stomach at the moment to contemplate the mixture of hatred of the good for being the good, original sin - both religious and secular versions, and pragmatism involved in the character of a person who could do such a thing. The following excerpt from an article in today's Daily Oklahoman is bad enough:
"The New York Stock Exchange is the world's biggest and most powerful equities market. The value of the hundreds of companies listed on the exchange exceeds $10 trillion. The exchange is owned by its members, who pay up to $2 million to purchase a seat.
Even many of Grasso's critics praise the job he did in leading the exchange, from the modernization of its technology and its marketing to investors to leading its recovery after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Still, the scandal at the New York Stock Exchange has tarnished his reputation at a time when companies are concerned about appearing ethical.
Russell said Grasso is a stark example of a business leader whose compensation was unduly lavish.
"When a chief executive makes millions of dollars often for a mediocre job, it takes away money that could be given to hard-working rank-and-file workers, it takes away money that could be given to shareholders who depend on dividends to live," he said. "It demoralizes the work force and is a blow to capitalism when you have compensation wildly out of sync, wildly inconsistent with exertion and creativity.""
Now does anyone else besides me see a contrast between the references to the truly stunning scope and value of the NYSE and the carping about "unduly lavish" "compensation" for a "mediocre job"? If this writer is inferring that Dick Grasso is mediocre for building the NYSE into a market representing companies worth over $10 TRILLION!!!!! that is ASTOUNDINGLY disgusting! And if this writer is inferring that Grasso is NOT mediocre, but should take the fall for those who ARE, then so much the worse! Truly THIS is the measure of the evil that exists in the world today.
But of course, the motive behind this is the concept of sacrifice. Dick Grasso is a true Atlas whose strength made it possible for others to achieve things they wouldn't have on their own. Indeed, as CEO of the NYSE, Grasso was a prime mover in the truest sense - one of the people who literally make our world possible. For this, he was forced to renounce his position by those who believe it expedient to spit in the face of those upon whose shoulders they ride. Do not wonder why our world is in the shape it is in today.
