Goldman Sachs Group Inc CEO Lloyd Blankfein has reaped a US$6.1 million gain by cashing in more than 90,000 stock options before they expired in November.
Blankfein realized the windfall on Wednesday by exercising his right to buy 90,681 Goldman shares at US$82.875, according to a Friday regulatory filing. He then sold the stock at prices ranging between US$149.49 and US$152.
Goldman shares closed on Friday at US$148.08. That’s a 79 percent increase from the stock’s price in November 2000 when Blankfein received the options.
Goldman is considered the leading Wall Street bank, usually outdistancing its rivals with its trading and investment banking operations. The company beat second-quarter earnings forecasts, although its net income fell 83 percent due to the US$550 billion it paid to settle civil fraud charges brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a US$600 million charge for a British employee bonus tax.
Goldman has been sharply criticized for its high compensation levels after it accepted a US$10 billion government bailout during the financial crisis in 2008. It also received US$13 billion from insurer American International Group Inc after the government bailed that company out.
Two other top Goldman executives also profited from expiring options. Gary Cohn, Goldman’s president, made US$4.9 million by exercising more than 73,600 options and David Viniar, the bank’s chief financial officer, made US$4.5 million on more than 67,300 options.
According to previous filings with the SEC, Blankfein earned US$862,657 last year, down from US$42.9 million in 2008.
His pay for last year included salary and perks. He received no grants of stock awards or options last year, while his compensation from 2008 included stock compensation valued at US$42.1 million.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique