Former Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation Kenneth Feinberg gave a key note address to a full room of 112 corporate governance academics from 27 countries being held at The Wharton School yesterday.
Mr Feinberg said he "remained dubious" of the argument that not paying executives what they believe they are worth risks that they will leave "to Europe or China." 85% of the 175 people whose compensation fell under Mr Feinberg's jurisdiction still are with the 7 companies that were under his purview, and he had not checked why the 15% had left.
In a humorous moment, he indicated the need to "get his own data" and finding an "independent compensation consultant," at which point he deadpanned "There are none! So I went to the next best thing ~ academia."
In a Q and A session to follow, in response to his view on the causes to the global financial crisis, Mr Feinberg remarked that "I do think, in a Washington / lay opinion, from someone who was a former chief of staff to Senator Kennedy, that the financial crisis had more to do with external absence of governmental regulation... The Reagan revolution went too far," he said.