Well, a lot of the stuff I thought would happen (post #17 in this thread) has materialized. Two things surprised me.
First, I underestimated the amount of the largest bonus by a factor of at least 10. I work in a large corporate environment, and am familiar with some of the excesses. But I was shocked at the nine-figure bonus paid to the head of Consumer Banking.
Second, I was floored, in a bad way, by Stumpf's performance in front of the Senate Banking committee. This guy has a near trillion-dollar organization at his disposal, and was stumbling over answers to questions and accusations that were entirely foreseeable.
BS or not, I would have expected smooth, scripted answers that anticipated every contingency. But he looked and sounded like a high school kid busted for cheating on a test.
It was clear he was wholly unprepared. The question is, given his resources, why?
I think the answer is that he chose not to be, and I'm not kidding. I think he truly believed he was going to overwhelm the room with the power of his intellect and charisma. He was going to run circles around these political hacks, then head back to San Francisco for dinner and celebratory drinks at Mark Hopkins.
This guy truly believed that he was unassailable, and didn't need no stinkin' preparation. His ego is so incredibly big that even today, after being publicly humiliated, he might still believe that to the core of his being.
I don't know the clinical definition of a psychopath, but to my unprofessional understanding, that seems to fit.
Now, there are stories of retaliatory firings for whistleblowers. Thus far, the press outlets haven't been the most credible. But the individuals' words have the ring of truth, and I'm betting more mainstream channels are vetting facts before running similar pieces. Hell hath no fury like a fired employee who really truly deserved exactly the opposite.
So more predictions:
-- Stumpf will not be in the CEO chair on 1/1/2017, and will receive no parachute.
-- Tolstedt will have to give back her $125 million.
-- Don't cry for either one...they already had nine figures (maybe even 10 for Stumpf) socked away
-- Other executive heads will roll, including the CFO and the head of HR.
-- There's a bunch of banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions large and small really puckered up right now, scrambling with their own internal investigations.
-- The whistleblowers are about a year away from settlements that will mean they, their children and grandchildren will never have to work.
All that will make the pitchfork-wielding mob happy. But it won't keep a lot of truly innocent people -- the shareholders -- from being hurt. Remember, there's a good chance that's you, whether directly or indirectly though a mutual fund.