Cutting Grasso

Amid a barrage of criticism over thesize of his paycheck, New York StockExchange (NYSE) Chairman and CEORichard Grasso resigned from his post inSeptember after the Exchange's board ofdirectors voted to oust him. Grasso, whobecame chairman of the NYSE in 1995,was scheduled to make $140 million insalary, deferred compensation, and retirementbenefits this year, a sum that SECChairman William Donaldson thoughtwas excessive. In the aftermath ofDonaldson's objections, Grasso revealedthat he was entitled to another $48 million,which he decided not to take. Thepay package included a $5-million bonusfor getting the NYSE up and running inthe wake of the September 11 attacks.Recent news stories, however, indicatethat Grasso never took part in the coordinatingtalks between the heads of thevarious exchanges in the days beforethe markets reopened.