Mind you, this an industry that had to be saved from itself through a massive infusion of cash from the federal government (ie., you and me, the people who pay taxes). And what was the lesson learned from the brush with disaster? You tell me. JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, the face of oblivious Wall Street wealth, received $23 million in total compensation last year, about the same as the year before, according to Bloomberg. (Yes, I know JP Morgan repaid its $25 billion in taxpayer money.)
So you’ll have to pardon me if I get a few chuckles out of the irreverence of a young entrepreneur who, far as I know, hasn’t been subsidized by taxpayers and hasn’t risked taking the global economy off a cliff.
Mark Zuckerberg should wear a hoodie to every single business meeting for the rest of his life. Just to annoy Wall Street.
» Citigroup CEO Vikram S. Pandit’s upcoming compensation package, along with the compensation packages of other executives, was voted down by a majority of shareholders during an investors meeting in Dallas. While the vote was nonbinding, meaning the bank doesn’t actually have to act according to the shareholders’ wishes, the bank says it will not ignore its investors. “Citi’s board of directors takes the shareholder vote seriously,” said spokesman Jon Diat, adding, ” [We’ll] consult with representative shareholders to understand their concerns.”
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Photo of the day: Wall Street celebrates Easter, too. With bunny ears. (ht to my co-worker Sara; photo by Seth Wenig/AP)
It should be noted that the Times decided to illustrate Greg Smith’s Goldman Sachs resignation op-ed with this, reminding us all that he’s still a buzzard, feeding on carcasses — and now he’s just going to go feed off another.
(Illustration: Victor Kerlow / NY Times)
Story of the morning. Perhaps the most iconic open letter since Steve Jobs’ “Thoughts on Flash” from two years ago. Also worth a read when you’re done. (ht @AntDeRosa on that front)
Two Wall Streeters apparently forgot their jobs were saved by taxpayers, like many of these protesters.
H/T Justin Elliot
You’d think they would have money for better signs. These guys can afford buying the expensive stuff from Kinko’s, or whatever FedEx calls that place these days.
Members of Congress can legally trade stock based on non-public information from Capitol Hill.
As Lizzie O’Leary points out, much of this report owes its information from the work done by Brody Mullins at the Wall Street Journal:
Friends, read up on this story this morning. This is important. This is a major loophole in the law that proves most of the arguments we might have about the financial system. And thanks to “60 Minutes” doing such a thorough report on it, it’s now something that the public will now be able to act upon. Many people are named in the report, including John Boehner and Spencer Bachus.
People don’t want handouts. It’s not a class uprising and they don’t want civil war — they want just the opposite. They want everyone to live in the same country, and live by the same rules. It’s amazing that some people think that that’s asking a lot.
Read the whole thing. It’s a really well-argued piece, and one that’s pretty solid all around. Must hand it to Rolling Stone. Their political coverage is solid these days. (thanks brazenwussy, who wrote a bunch of thoughts on the piece over here)
Yes I do still say that, and here’s why: they might be frustrated with Wall Street and the bankers, but they’re directing their anger the wrong place. Wall Street didn’t impose failed economic policies… they ought to be in front of the White House. So I do stand by that.Herman Cain, refusing to back down from his criticisms of Occupy Wall Street. He insisted he stands behind his earlier comments that it isn’t a person’s fault if they succeed, but it is if they fail. Ron Paul disagreed, saying that Cain was “blaming the victims” of a bad business cycle, and calling out the Federal Reserve.
Fat Cats on Wall Street, the Tumblr.
Finally.
Well, that’s it. The Internet’s over. Everyone shut down your computers and go home.
True story: A 40-minute-old Tumblr steals our hearts.
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Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
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FOOTAGE. Woman arrested at Citibank 555 Laguardia (around West 3rd/Bleeker). She’s wearing a business suit, clearly not protesting, just there to close her account with the bank as part of a group action. NYPD surround her, scare the shit out of her, and arrest her. For closing her bank account.
THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING.
If anyone has more information about this video, please contact me.
It doesn’t even look like she was there to close her account. Yikes.
thenoobyorker says: I would love to see this not end with Rajaratnam, they may use him as an example but there are others that could/ should go to jail as well.
» SFB says: Assuming that’s how a lot of people feel about the situation. There were a lot of people who did bad things during this era. How it seems to us that financial industry crimes tend to happen is that someone takes the fall for something that goes way beyond that person. In a lot of ways, that’s what the Occupy movement seems to be about — not letting that simply happen. — Ernie @ SFB
See? Wall Street could totally take part in Occupy Wall Street at the rate things are going! (via Percolate)
Getting in the act: That Wallace Shawn (he of “The Princess Bride” and a notable dinner with a guy named Andre) chose to align himself with Occupy Wall Street shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody familiar with the man’s politics — he lent a hand to Michael Moore for a few scenes of “Capitalism: A Love Story,” for example. That said, the ever-expanding sphere of Occupy Wall Street’s influence continues to draw in bigger organizations (support from major unions) and famed personalities (hey look, it’s Mark Ruffalo) — as we mentioned, even a GOP presidential candidate, albeit the hopelessly unknown Buddy Roemer, plans to stop by. We’ll take this guy over Kanye any day of the week. source
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