Bad American

Pain  Dealer

If National City Corp. were sold tomorrow, more than $60 million of the proceeds could go to four top executives.

The payouts would be made to the officers should they be canned within three years of a takeover, or in some instances if they decide to leave on their own.

Such arrangements are common between large companies and key employees. They are designed to keep executives motivated during times of turmoil or while a sale is being explored, said Michael Ellis, a mergers and acquisitions attorney with Porter Wright Morris & Arthur in Cleveland.

Ellis declined to comment specifically about National City.

Hurt by the mortgage meltown, the bank hired investment banker Goldman Sachs in January to help raise capital. Some have suggested the bank could be for sale.

National City has had change-in-control agreements in place for several years, although they were amended in December, around the time Chief Executive Officer Peter Raskind took over as chairman of the bank from the retiring David Daberko.

The agreements are explained in National City’s latest proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Only the estimated payouts to four named executives are spelled out. They include Raskind, Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Kelly, and Executive Vice Presidents Daniel Frate and Jon Gorney.

Only in America could you drive a company into the ground, destroy the lives of countless dedicated employees and devastate a community and then walk away with more money than any mortal should need in multiple lifetimes!

Wow. Who do I need to cheat/kill/rape and pillage to get a piece of this scam?

Oh, it’s largely dependent on who your parents are. Oh, I see.

But I’m SURE those four executives earned every single penny they’ll get from the corpse of National City, just like the guy who bailed out of Bear Stearns before it imploded and bought that nifty Manhattan condo for $28 million cash.

So when we wax rhapsodic about our non-negotiable economic system to our kids, are these the examples we should use about hard work and dedication will get you ahead?