Perked Up

CEO Perks Boom After Bailout

Private jets, country-club memberships abound.

Where’s the pay czar when you need him? According to The Washington Post, the biggest financial firms in the United States increased perks and benefits for their chief executives by an average of 4 percent in 2008. As a group, these same firms received $350 billion in federal funds. Executives Kenneth D. Lewis of Bank of America and Jeffrey M. Peek of CIT Group each received $100,000 extra in 2008 for corporate jets. Ralph W. Babb Jr. got a $200,000 country-club membership on Comerica’s dime. GMAC Financial Services spent $2.5 million to help Alvaro de Molina pay his personal tax bill. Chaffeured services, parking, and personal security were other common perks in 2008.