Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide
Apparently Angelo Mozilo, the CEO of Countrywide, has never made a mistake and needed help (from, say, Bank of America,) because he thinks that homeowners who are desperately trying to refinance out of their disastrous home loans and avoid foreclosure are "disgusting" if they look to the internet for help writing letters.
Martin Sullivan, A.I.G.
Marty here wasn’t even the current CEO when AIG asked for an $85 billion emergency bailout loan from the U.S. government. He was forced out in June of 08, but still managed an additional $15 million severance package. He also benefited from a board-approved change in the way bonuses were calculated. This change got him a nice little $5 million cash bonus.
Marty’s punch to the face will probably come from the most recent AIG CEO, Robert Willumstad, who was cleaning up Sullivan’s mess while he was forced to decline his own $22 million exit package when the Treasury took over. Revenge is a dish best served with some broken teeth.Jim Cramer, CNBC
I think Cramer deserves a right hook for what he’s been up to the past two days. First he goes on the Today Show and tells all the uninformed, non-financially savvy viewers that they need to sell all their stocks right away because it’s a disaster outside! He was pretty explicit about it, even answering questions from Anne Curry explaining that even at the risk of a massive loss, everyone should sell. Later that night he tried to claim it was all a big misunderstanding. Dude, come on!
Samuel Israel III, Bayou Hedge Fund
Compared to the other big names on this list, Israel is kind of a small fry who pulled a big scam. He defrauded his hedge fund’s investors out of $450 million and fled the scene right before his scheduled jail time. We talked about Israel’s exciting time running from the law a lot and it helped us take our minds off the worsening recession, if only for a moment.
Jimmy Cayne, Bear Stearns
Jimmy Cayne, former Bear Stearns CEO, had the foresight to sell his stake of Bear Stearns shares for $61 million right before the company collapsed and was bought by JP Morgan in March. Don’t forget Cayne was unreachable via email or cell phone the weekend of the company’s collapse because he was at a bridge tournament in Nashville. Bridge! You’d think he was some old card playing granny, but this is the same guy who admitted publicly that he sometimes smokes marijuana at the end of tournament sessions. How has this guy not be punched yet? I don’t even understand this!
Lehman Brothers CEO Got Punched In The Face
Fuld testified before the House Oversight Committee yesterday, blaming everyone but himself for Lehman's collapse, an attitude that prompted Ward to confirm reports that he'd been punched in the face and to side with the attacker:
“From two very senior sources – one incredibly senior source – that he went to the gym after … Lehman was announced as going under. He was on a treadmill with a heart monitor on. Someone was in the corner, pumping iron and he walked over and he knocked him out cold. And frankly after having watched this, I’d have done the same too.”
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