'Who's Greedy Again, Warren Buffett?' - the Bankers
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Warren Buffett is sometimes a walking conundrum; he berates bankers for their greed but then pays top-dollar to his executives.
According to Bloomberg, Buffett's Berkshire (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) paid about $17.4 million to United States Liberty Insurance CEO Tom Nerney in 2011, $12.4 million to Geico Corp. CEO Tony Nicely and the National Indemnity Co. unit gave $9.26 million to Ajit Jain.
For his part, Buffett is still drawing a $100,000 per year salary (though overall compensation is much more).
Last year, Buffett was an advocate for the wealthy to pay more taxes, evoking Obama's "Buffett tax."
Bloomberg also notes that JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon praised Buffett's pay practices, saying Berkshire's top 20 to 30 people make more than the top earners at his bank. Specifically, at an investor event February 28th, Dimon said, "Warren Buffett does an exceptional job...I'll make you a bet he pays his top 20 or 30 people more than we do. We need top talent. You cannot run these businesses with second-rate talent."
We're not gonna take that bet, Jamie.
J.P. Morgan paid its 25,999 employees an average of $341,552 last year.
Buffett defends the practice of paying bonuses as encouraging employees to think like owners. Last year, before David Sokol left in April, Buffett said he offered to pay him $50 million in bonuses if certain financial targets were met.
Notably, Berkshire's stock fell 4.7 percent in 2011, amid Buffett calling for a first-ever common stock buyback. Shares last closed at $122,000 Thursday, up 6.3 percent in 2012.
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According to Bloomberg, Buffett's Berkshire (NYSE: BRK-A)(NYSE: BRK-B) paid about $17.4 million to United States Liberty Insurance CEO Tom Nerney in 2011, $12.4 million to Geico Corp. CEO Tony Nicely and the National Indemnity Co. unit gave $9.26 million to Ajit Jain.
For his part, Buffett is still drawing a $100,000 per year salary (though overall compensation is much more).
Last year, Buffett was an advocate for the wealthy to pay more taxes, evoking Obama's "Buffett tax."
Bloomberg also notes that JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon praised Buffett's pay practices, saying Berkshire's top 20 to 30 people make more than the top earners at his bank. Specifically, at an investor event February 28th, Dimon said, "Warren Buffett does an exceptional job...I'll make you a bet he pays his top 20 or 30 people more than we do. We need top talent. You cannot run these businesses with second-rate talent."
We're not gonna take that bet, Jamie.
J.P. Morgan paid its 25,999 employees an average of $341,552 last year.
Buffett defends the practice of paying bonuses as encouraging employees to think like owners. Last year, before David Sokol left in April, Buffett said he offered to pay him $50 million in bonuses if certain financial targets were met.
Notably, Berkshire's stock fell 4.7 percent in 2011, amid Buffett calling for a first-ever common stock buyback. Shares last closed at $122,000 Thursday, up 6.3 percent in 2012.
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