This afternoon brings yet another story in which the most interesting question is, Who leaked this?
Top officials at Chrysler Financial turned
away a $750 million government loan because executives didn’t want to abide by new federal limits on pay, sources familiar with the matter say.
….The Treasury Department previously had loaned Chrysler Financial $1.5 billion….During March, when it seemed that the first loan would run out, the Obama administration began working on a deal to lend the company another $750 million.
Quickly, most of the agreement fell into place. But on April 7, Treasury asked Chrysler Financial to have its top 25 executives sign waivers regarding their compensation, sources said….Within a week, the company responded that some of the executives had refused to give their approval.
Sure, this is sort of interesting on its own merits. Mainly, though, it seems interesting as a shot across the bow in the war between Washington and the business world over executive pay. Someone in the White House apparently wants word of this particular round in the fight to become very public indeed.
