On reports former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain spent over $1,200,000 decorating his office and distributing up to $4bn in discretionary bonuses just three days before the BofA acquisition, we here at FT Alphaville are prepared to give the beleaguered executive the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps there was a reason he was so hell bent on spending every penny Merrill had? Perhaps there was a secret deal struck between him and Bernanke behind the scenes, much like this one. Just imagine, a new Fed policy based on teaching bankers how to stop wasting money the hard way.
“I’m going to do to you what my daddy did to me, I’m going to teach you to hate spending money, I’m going to make you so sick of spending money that the very sight of it will make you want to throw up. You have 30 days to spend $4 bn bucks, if you can do it then you get a bailout.”
Related links:
Brewster’s millions, the proposal – Youtube
Behind Thain’s ousting – FT Alphaville
John Thain spending slideshow – CNBC