Big Bank CEOs Hit Hard in Downturn, Losing Millions

Wall Street's fattest cats are sharing in the pain of the stock market slump, The Associated Press reports.

Chief executives of major financial companies saw their net worth skyrocket during the bull market, but the value of their company stock holdings and options has plunged by hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two and a half months.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 18.3% from its peak on July 17 by the close of trading Thursday. The impact on some of America's most powerful money men in that same period was much more drastic, according to a study by Compensation Resource Group Inc., a Pasadena, Calif., consulting firm.

Travelers Group chief Sanford Weill took the biggest hit in dollar terms of the 13 CEOs sampled, with the value of his company stock and options dropping by $785 million, or 50.1%. His merger partner, Citicorp's John Reed, lost $196.5 million, or 50.6%, on paper.

In percentage terms, the hardest hit was Richard Fuld Jr. of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., who lost 66.3%, or $130.2 million.

The least affected in dollar terms was Hugh McColl of NationsBank Corp., (now BankAmerica Corp., as result of the merger that closed Wednesday) who lost $36.9 million, or 35.2%. David Coulter of BankAmerica Corp. (CEO until the NationsBank merger, now president) lost $121 million, or 44.3%; Walter Shipley of Chase Manhattan Corp. $77.8 million, or 45.6%; and Douglas Warner 3d of J.P. Morgan & Co. $51.8 million, or 38.9%. u

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER