CEOs giving up bonuses

Seems unlikely; but this is what portfolio.com are reporting.

In the wake of losses sustained in the credit crunch, John Mack of Morgan Stanley gave up his 2007 bonus, as did top executives of Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch. Lately, Lehman Brothers has been the Street's problem child, and Yalman Onaran of Bloomberg News reports that its C.E.O., Richard Fuld, and its president, Herbert (Bart) McDade, told the firm's managing directors this week that they will forgo 2008 bonuses.

The bonus is typically the majority of a Wall Street professional's annual compensation. But these are hard times, with credit markets mired and with deals and offerings chilled. "I'd be surprised if other C.E.O.'s didn't give up their bonuses this year," Jeanne Branthover, the New York-based head of the financial-services practice at Boyden Global Executive Search, told Bloomberg.