Morgan Stanley Underperforms, Overdelivers
Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack was gracious enough to forego a bonus for 2009. But pretty much everyone else did just fine. Despite the fact the bank reported its first annual loss in its 74-year history this morning, the firm said it set aside $14.4 billion to pay employee bonuses and salaries, "an astonishing figure, even by the gilded standards of Wall Street" and one that's up 30 percent from 2008. Of course, it's always possible the windfall led a magnanimous banker to toss a couple of coins in the direction of the poor guy assigned to polish the Morgan Stanley logo this afternoon. Feel free to consider that the upside if you'd like! [NYT, FT]