Is life getting back to normal at the top Wall Street firms? Well, the good times are starting to roll again for some top executives, even after a tough 2010 that may not get much better in 2011. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein was given a nice raise by the board, which approved an annual base salary of $2 million, compared with $600,000 for 2010.

The board also granted Blankfein a bonus in the form of restricted stock with a value of $12.6 million. Thus, Blankfein's 2010 pay was $13.2 million in 2010, compared with $9 million in 2009 and $68.5 million in 2007.

Despite a lot of bad press and plenty of critics, Blankfein was apparently able to persuade the board that he navigated the firm as well as possible.

Other top Goldman executives received sizable salary increases and generous restricted stock grants as bonuses. This is the board's way of saying job well done.

Goldman employees will also benefit from some massive grants of options in 2008 to all partners, including the top execs. These extraordinary grants were meant as an incentive to stick it out through the financial crisis. The options will vest over the four years after 2008, and will provide nice gains as long as the stock holds up.

So, from a pocketbook point of view, the top execs at Goldman Sachs appear to have recovered from the financial crisis.

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