Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

It's Good to Be at Goldman | There is good economic news to report, after all! But only if you work at Goldman Sachs (and maybe Morgan Stanley): "Based on analysts' earnings forecasts for 2009, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is on track to pay out as much as $20 billion this year, or about $700,000 per employee. That would be nearly double the firm's $363,000 average last year, and slightly higher than the $661,000 for the average Goldman employee in fiscal 2007." Now we just have to hope every Goldman employee blows his or her bonus buying a new apartment and the real estate market will be booming again in no time. [WSJ]

It's Good to Be CEO | According to Crain's, New York's 100 top-paid executives took home $1.2 billion in compensation last year. And a handful of them, it turns out, are execs who happen to work at banks that received bailouts from Washington: "Number four on the list is Goldman's CEO Lloyd Blankfein, with $42.9 million. Following him is Citigroup's CEO Vikram Pandit, raking in $38.2 million. Jamie Dimon, head of JPMorgan Chase, comes next in line with $35.7 million. Goldman and JPMorgan, which received $10 billion and $25 billion, respectively, in government aid, have recently moved to repay the funds. Citigroup is still saddled with the $45 billion in aid it's accepted." Topping the list, in case you're wondering, is Peter Kraus of Alliance Bernstein, who was paid $52 million just to take the job. But American taxpayers also had a hand in making 2008 a very good year for Kraus: In addition to his take from Alliance, he earned $25 million for the three months he put in at Merrill Lynch in late 2008. [NYP]

Mayor Bloomberg Relies On a Different Pay Scale | Mayor Bloomberg raised a few eyebrows when he said earlier today that President Obama "does not get paid very much." City Room details just how much the president makes a year when you factor in some of the perks that come along with the job: "As president, Mr. Obama earns $400,000 a year. He has a $50,000 expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account and a $19,000 entertainment budget. Mr. Obama's total compensation package: $569,000 a year. That is 11 times the median household income in the United States." Of course, it's also what Bloomberg probably collects in interest over the course of a couple of days so, you know, it's all relative. [NYT/City Room]

Pay Cap! | Don't expect to see a smile on Vikram Pandit's face in the hallways of Citigroup today. President Obama will announce later this morning that he's imposing a cap of $500,000 on the compensation of top executives at companies that receive a large amount of bailout money. The new rules will also require greater transparency on the use of corporate jets, splashy parties, office renovations and conferences. [Reuters, NYT]

It's Good to Be John Wren | Remember when mega ad agency Omnicom announced it planned to lay off 3,500 employees? That was a full three weeks ago, but there's much better news to report today, at least if you happen to be John Wren, the agency's CEO: He collected another $25 million in Omnicom stock just ten days after announcing the layoffs. How nice to see that in these times of flux, some things stay the same! [AgencySpy]

AIG Chief's New Salary: $1 | Last week, we sent some some spray-on tanning lotion to Ed Liddy, AIG's embattled CEO, just to make up for the pricey junkets that are no longer available to senior execs at the company. But it looks like we may have to send him some coupons, too. Under pressure from Andrew Cuomo, the company has announced it will pay Liddy $1 a year in salary and will also freeze the salaries of seven other top executives. [Dealbook]

♦  How did Hank Paulson's negotiations with the CEOs of the nation's largest banks go down on Monday? There were no negotiations, actually. He handed them a term sheet and told them to sign it on the spot if they knew what was good for them. [WSJ, NYT]
♦  Whether or not the federal government make actually make money taking a take in all these banks is still up in the air. [NYT]
♦  Will the bailout really change the way Wall Street CEOs are paid? Nah. They "will find other creative ways of paying their executives as they see fit." Which means Lloyd Blankfein will still take home tens of millions. [NYT, Bloomberg]
♦  The credit markets thawed ever so slightly yesterday following the news the U.S. government would take a stake in major banks. It could take weeks or months for things to really improve, though. [WSJ] More

So if investment banks are taking shelter from the financial shitstorm by morphing into commercial banks, does that mean Wall Streeters will soon have to deal with getting paid like commercial bankers, too? Good question! Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein took home $70.3 million last year; JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon collected $27.8 million; and Lehman Brothers chairman Dick Fuld walked away with $35 million. Of course that's not what their counterparts in commercial banking are making. Bank of America's CEO, Ken Lewis, earned a meager $16.4 million last year. (We're weeping, too.) "I think they [investment banks] are going to have to come more in line with a more traditional compensation plan," says one expert. Guess you might have to wait a few more years before you can afford that loft in Tribeca or four-bedroom in Scarsdale! [NY Post]

Mayoral Aspirants Divulge All | Don't you love it when politicans disclose how much they make and how much they have in the bank? Bill Thompson, the city's comptroller, earns $185,000 and makes ends meet renting an apartment to his ex-wife. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn makes $141,000 a year and owns 50% of a house on the Jersey Shore that's worth more than $500,000. Betsy Gotbaum makes $150,000 a year and has between $450,000 and $1.2 million in various investment accounts. Michael Bloomberg? He's still worth $20 billion. [NYP]

Rolf's Riches | Page Six reports today that Sony Music chief Rolf Schmidt-Holtz is negotiating a new contract worth about $50 million. It's not exactly music to the ears of the numerous Sony execs who have been shown the door in recent years; we're guessing it was one of Rolf's many victims who is quoted as saying that the German publishing exec-turned-music exec "wouldn't know a hit if it fell into his glass of Schnapps." [Page Six]

How Much? | Some are predicting that "salary transparency" will become the norm, according to today's Times: "If people are paid what they are worth... there is no reason for people to feel uncomfortable about sharing salary information," says one expert. We can't wait to see how this works out in, say, media or fashion. [NYT]