Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50%

Still facing the fallout from the sub-prime meltdown, the firm slashes pay for 60,900 employees

By Jim O'Neill, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 3, 2008 7:35 AM CST

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Merrill to Slash Bonuses 50% — People walk past the Merrill Lynch building in New York. (AP Photo/Brian McDermott, file)

Merrill Lynch, facing losses of $13.3 billion this year and with revenues off 96% from a year ago, will slash year-end bonuses at least 50%, Bloomberg reports. Some employees may face steeper cuts. Merrill and Bank of America, which agreed to acquire the failing investment bank earlier this year, received $25 billion from the federal rescue fund.

Without any bonuses, Merrill is on track to pay its 60,900 employees an average of $184,00 this year, compared to $248,000 last year. The company’s revenue through September was $834 million, down from $19.4 billion last year.
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