WaMu CEO forfeits bonus

A lobotomized monkey could make better business decisions than this incompetent group. TPG is now looking pretty silly for paying as much as they did per share to invest in this group. Granted Killinger is an idiot, but how does a board justify keeping him? Thank God Killinger doesn’t run a Nuclear Safety program, or the Center for Disease Control. His incompetence would have killed us all. At least this way he is only ruining a bank.
Congrats to Killinger for bringing shares down from over $40 to around $3 and change!!! Great job boys!
Whew! Yeah, you’re a swell group for not collecting bonuses on that performace.

Executives should be held accountable for their actions the same as regular salaried workers - even more so since their decisions affect the lives & livelihood of so many.

Not only is he an incompetent CEO, he’s also got a very un-PC name. His middle initial is also “K”, so his personalized luggage, sheets and underwear all read “KKK”. You can look it up.

It was his job or his bonus. He forfited the bonus to keep his job. He still got out fine compared to his other colleagues.

I GUESS ITS TIME FOR ME TO CHANGE BANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Killinger and the rest of the executive office should be fired! Give me a break…it was their greed and arrogance that got them into trouble. The shareholders would be way better served with new blood. They have runined the financial lives of many employees and shareholders that owned the stock in good faith and were relying on the dividends and future potential.

The fact that it is newsworthy that this FOOL isnt getting a bonus for running his company into the ground shows how messed-up this whole CEO system of overpayment has become. Personally, I hope WM goes down like the Titanic. They cheated me several hundred dollars 2 years ago. This couldnt happen to a more deserving bunch.

WaMu troubles are a direct result of Killinger and his “bought & paid for” board chasing profits with no reguard for fudiciary responsibilities. They have handsomely enriched themselves over the last few years, now like the thousands of employees and stockholders they have ruined, they should lose more than just their bonuses. Maybe 95% of their base pay and stock options should be suspended until WM stock once again reaches $43.00 per share.

Forget the bonus, watch the stock grants and strike price.

Washington Mutual’s (WM) board has had a change of heart. The Seattle thrift said Tuesday in announcing its latest quarterly loss that its board has done an about-face on executive pay. Noting “the impact of mortgage-related loan loss provisions and foreclosed asset expense,” the board said Tuesday afternoon that execs including CEO Kerry Killinger won’t get annual incentive payments this year under its leadership bonus plan.

It only stands to reason that Killinger shouldn’t be getting a bonus for a year in which WaMu has lost half its stock market value in the wake of consecutive billion-dollar-plus quarterly losses. Yet WaMu had said in a regulatory filing back in March that it would calculate 2008 bonuses considering factors such as operating profit and noninterest expense - without taking into effect housing-related loan losses and expenses tied to real estate foreclosures.

Events since have put that formula to the test. After losing $1.1 billion in the first quarter, WaMu said Tuesday it lost $3.3 billion in the second quarter, due to a massive build of reserves against losses on its souring mortgages. Along the way, the company has also had to raise $7 billion in new capital from private equity investors, adding to existing shareholders’ distress.

While these developments have conspired to reduce Killinger’s paycheck, he continues to hold down his CEO post - even after the CEOs of many other major banks taking huge mortgage-related hits have been pushed aside. “In the face of unprecedented housing and mortgage market conditions,” Killinger said Tuesday, “we are continuing to execute on a comprehensive plan designed to ensure that we have strong capital and liquidity, an appropriately-sized expense base and a strong, profitable retail franchise.” WaMu shares rose 6% in after-hours trading.

Good job Kerry. At least he isn’t taking what he doesn’t deserve.