According to Bloomberg, Wall Street's five largest companies paid over $3 billion in the past five years to their high-ranking executives while they made decisions that included extension of loans instrumental to the collapse of many investment banking companies.

On top of the list is Merrill Lynch which paid CEO Stanley O'Neal $172 million from 2003 to 2007 and John Thain $86 million which included a signing bonus for working for Merrill since December. Before Bear Stearns collapsed, James Cayne received $161 million compensation.

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The generosity of Wall Street firms prior to the financial crisis was not limited to CEOs. Goldman, Morgan Stanley, Merrill, Lehman Brothers Holdings and Bear Stearns compensated their 185,687 workers $66 billion in 2007, which included $39 billion bonuses. The fat pay boils down to $353,089 per employee and an average bonus of $211,849.

All Headline News and many other sources.

Hmm - average per CEO: $120 million per year.

I bet I could make a big company collapse in less time than that! And I would accept a much smaller bonus for being part of a losing team, say $150 thousand.