How Can I Get a Gig Like This?

This has nothing to do with books, but I found this article infuriatingly eye catching.

Seems Alan Fishman signed up to be the CEO of Washington Mutual three weeks ago, just prior to the bank’s collapse. His pay for that temp job? $19 million.

“To be fair, Fishman wasn’t the one that took WaMu down a path lined with toxic mortgages and other bad assets,” writes Kim Peterson. “No, that role belonged to former CEO Kerry Killinger, who received $54 million over five years before leaving earlier this month. He’s eligible for around $20 million in severance pay.”

Everyone else — including the shareholders — gets squat. Supposedly the economic rescue plan being voted on in the Senate today would limit CEO payouts. But would it be retroactive? If not, Fishman’s timing couldn’t be better.