SEATTLE - When its ailing balance sheet forced federal regulators to seize Washington Mutual, its new CEO, Alan Fishman, was in just his 17th day on the job. But don't look for Fishman to be seeking out a credit union that serves the underserved.
As part of his contract, Fishman was contractually guaranteed $11.6-million in cash severance, in addition to the $7.5-million signing bonus he received when he accepted the position. Portions of that package could be challenged, according to some analysts, and at press time JPMorgan Chase, which acquired Washington Mutual, had not responded to questions about the fate of the pay package. Fishman had a base annual salary of $1 million, or $19,230 per week. At the time he joined WaMu he also received 612,500 shares of stock, and even though those had plunged to just 16 cents per share at press time, still represent another $98,000 in value.
According to CUNA, as of Q1 2008, the median size of a U.S. credit union was $13.7 million.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com/ http://www.sourcemedia.com/
