This year’s Hubris Award goes to John Thain, former chief executive officer of the financial firm of Merrill Lynch & Co.
Fired this week by Bank of America, which earlier absorbed the troubled investment company, Thain spent $1.22 million last year redecorating his Manhattan office as his company was firing employes after losing $56 billion in the sub-prime and credit crashes.
Thain also paid his company driver $230,100 a year, including overtime.
It’s all covered, of course, by American taxpayers who have spent multi-billions of dollars to bail out BofA and other banks.
In the early 1980s, military procurement officers paid $640 each for toilet seats, $435 each for claw hammers, $7,600 each for coffee makers and $1,118.25 each for two-cent plastic caps. But, hey, that’s government.
Meanwhile, back in Thain’s former workspace on Wall Street, the suite now includes a $35,115 commode (toilet) on legs, a $1405 garbage can and an $87,784 area rug. But, hey, those are antiques.
And--wait for it--President and Mrs. Obama have retained Thain’s decorator to pimp up the White House. (25 JANUARY 2009)
