Thirty-one percent of top executives interviewed in a survey by the Business Roundtable said most will cut payrolls in the next few months. By how much is not known, but one thing is for certain -- they won't cut their own pay.

One of the reasons people are losing their jobs is because the cycle of greed is coming full circle. Some of the Wall Street companies that helped perpetuate the mortgage-backed CDO investment scams are now laying people off.

But that didn't stop their CEOs from cashing in while other people bled out.

Business Week published the paydays of the Bear Stearns leadership in March. Between 2002 and 2006, the Chairman, CEO, and former co-president received total compensation packages of $156 million, $141 million and $168 million, with bonuses between $9 and $12 million. "Then came the fattest year of all, 2006," wrote Business Week. "Bear's mortgage origination and other credit products grew at a 27 percent clip, and the company's expansion into these areas really paid off, at least for those at the top of the pay pyramid ... cash bonuses jumped to more than $16 million for Cayne, Schwartz, and Spector."

A New York Times survey in April found that the CEOs of the 10 largest financial firms were paid $320 million, while the firms lost $55 billion and the market price of the stock lost over $200 billion.

While Merrill Lynch shareholder value plummeted 41 percent in 2007, CEO John Thain, the highest earning CEO on Wall Street, pocketed nearly $84 million. Bear Stearns went bankrupt, saved only by the intervention of JP Morgan.

Now, pink slips are papering Wall Street as 10 percent of the investment bankers at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs are laid off. Some financial services CEOs have lost their jobs, like Wachovia's G. Kennedy Thompson, Stanley O'Neal at Merrill Lynch, and Charles Prince at Citigroup.

They walked out with huge severance packages. O'Neal walked out of Merrill Lynch with over $161.5 million, and Prince "retired" with $40 million in severance.

Call it the debit side of the credit crunch.

Published: June 26, 2008

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.