Bank Of America's Lewis Made $10M In 2008, Down From $24M in 2007

Bank of America chief executive Kenneth Lewis, under fire for the bank's acquisition of brokerage Merrill Lynch, made $10 million in 2008, a $14 million reduction from 2007, according to the bank's SEC proxy form released moments ago.

In 2007, Lewis made $24 million through a combination of salary ($1.5 million), stock ($11 million), options ($4.6 million) and another $8 million in other compensation.

Last year, Lewis took a $14 million haircut.

His salary stayed the same -- $1.5 million -- but he got only $4.2 million in stock awards and another $4 million in other compensation.

The highest-paid executive listed in the proxy is Bruce Hammonds, former head of the company's global card services, who retired. He made a total of $11 million last year.

Bank of America bought Merrill in a $50 billion deal last year. But Lewis and others at Bank of America underestimated the losses the brokerage was carrying.

Consequently, Bank of America asked for $20 billion in government help to swallow Merrill, a move Lewis said was a "tactical mistake" earlier today in the Financial Times.

Bank of America and Citigroup are considered by many to be the two sickest of the big banks.

-- Frank Ahrens
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