WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- The Treasury Department said top pay at four bailed-out U.S. companies would not go up in 2011.
Top executives at General Motors Co., Ally Financial Inc. and American International Group would have their cash compensation frozen this year, while Chrysler Group LLC Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne will be paid by Fiat SpA, where he also serves as CEO, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
At AIG, where Robert Benmosche is the CEO, the top wage earner could receive $10.5 million, the Treasury said. At Ally Financial, CEO Michael Carpenter could be paid $9.5 million and GM CEO Dan Akerson could earn $9 million this year, said the Treasury, which did not name individuals in its pay guidelines.
As Marchionne is paid by Fiat, the Treasury assigned employee No. 2 at Chrysler a cash earnings limit of $1.2 million.
Under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Treasury limited compensation for the top 25 officials at companies that received what it called extraordinary assistance.
For 2011, pay for the top 25 executives at GM, AIG, Ally Financial and Chrysler will be trimmed by 18.2 percent with cash compensation pay decreased 1.3 percent from 2010 levels, the newspaper said.
At GM, Akerson said, "there ought to be a new perspective," on pay, as the company had reduced the government's stake in the company from 61 percent to 26.5 percent last year during its initial public offering in November.
GM asked the Treasury Department to allow more executives to receive at least $500,000 and the department complied partly with the company's request, allowing nine executives to earn more than half a million dollars this year. In 2010, seven executives at GM earned that much.
