He grasps a simple concept understood by every employee up to the level of senior vice presidents and their bosses, among whom it's as incomprehensible as particle physics: When you mess up, you don't get rewarded.
Feinberg rejects arguments that the job market demands obscene pay for Wall Street hotshots and that eight-figure packages are crucial to retain talent. To stars who threaten to walk, he says: The elevator's down the hall, just past the cigar humidor.
No doubt some will leave. But as a good shareholder proxy, Feinberg probably knows that such folks may represent more of a liability than an asset. Many of these people make money on financial-market whiplash, not on the long-term health of their companies.
Heck, they cause the whiplash. If they want to leave AIG and go wreck some hedge fund, Feinberg ought to personally clean out their desks and carry their boxes down to the limo.
By slashing cash payments and giving people stock they must keep for years, he puts executives in the same harness with shareholders. This is what corporate boards claim to do but don't. Instead, they pay millions to consultants who come up with specious arguments to give CEOs what they want.
Watch and learn, corporate directors. Feinberg shows what independence looks like. He says "no." He causes friction. He hacks off the people whose pay he sets. Spend more time doing that and less time partying with the CEO.
By doing the right thing, by showing some guts, by putting up with what must be ridiculous lobbying and pressure, Feinberg is the guy who deserves the big payday.
