It’s refreshing that someone is treating Grasso’s efforts to hang on to his eye-popping compensation from his days as the head of the NYSE with the seriousness it deserves. From DealBreaker.com:
In an interview today, former NYSE chair Dick Grasso told Bloomberg that the total costs of his lawsuit challenging his infamous compensation package maybe be over $100 million. But guess what? He doesn’t care. “What this case is about is honor,” Grasso offered, in what, oddly, sounded like an affected Italian accent. “It’s not about money anymore.” Grasso also told Bloomberg that “What we’re asking for is the right to go to trial, a trial by a jury of my peers, hopefully later this year. Once the whole story is told, my reputation will be vindicated and my case will be over turned.” We’re told that the following is a rough draft of the opening statement Grasso has prepared (to which we’ve added a few notes):
In the hopes of clearing my family name, in the sincere desire to give my children their fair share of the American way of life without a blemish on their name and background. I have appeared before this committee and given it all the cooperation [come on now—you’ve been pretty difficult along the way. Someone (Judge Ramos), and we’re not saying who (Judge Ramos) even told you “you are acting like a petulant child. Do petulant children get to keep $190 million compensation packages? I don’t think so, Mister”] in my power…..
One thing this DealBreaker post managed to omit (hey, they already had plenty to work with) is that Grasso also defended Bob Nardelli’s pay in the Bloomberg interview.
It’s truly breathtaking that Grasso has lost all sense of propriety, proportion, and what a buck is worth. Stay tuned for more posturing as his case moves to trial.
