Goldman Sachs is disputing reports that its chief executive could pocket a bonus of $100 million.
Lloyd Blankfein, who leads Goldman -- the world's richest investment bank -- stands to collect the staggering amount in defiance of the White House, which has leveled strong criticism on excessive bonuses for top executives on the heels of last year's credit crisis.
The Times of London, which cites unidentified bankers in Davos at the World Economic Forum, reported Monday that Blankfein and other top execs will "receive some of the bank's biggest ever payouts."
“This is Lloyd thumbing his nose at Obama,” a banker from a rival company told The Times.
Last week, President Barack Obama, responding to reports that Wall Street employees will rake in $18.4 billion in bonuses, called the payouts"the height of irresponsibility" while their crumbling financial sector received a bailout from taxpayers last year.
Responding to the rumor of Blankfein's bonus, a Goldman spokesman said Monday the company's board hasn't yet made a financial decision on executive compensation and called the $100 million figure "speculative nonsense."
"Everything Goldman Sachs has said and done in terms of compensation this year gives the lie to The Times story," the representative said.
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He added that Blankfein received no bonus in 2008.
Taxpayers are growing increasingly angry over big bonuses at financial institutions after saving the banks from near collapse last year.
Goldman will reveal the pay of its top five earners in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission by the end of next month.
