The CEO is more than the top executive at a company. He or she is also a very public symbol of the company, for better or worse. At Citigroup (Citigroup news) and Bank of America (Bank of America news), the prime symbol can't be making much for 2009 if the performance was awful; it would send the wrong message.

So it is not surprising that Citi (C) CEO Vikram Pandit (Vikram Pandit news) made just shy of $130,000 for work rendered in 2009. Some of his top dogs fared much better. John Havens, for example, head of Citigroup's investment banking and transaction processing businesses, received $11.3 million. Chief Financial Officer John Gerspach made $5 million.

At Bank of America (BAC), former CEO Ken Lewis (Ken Lewis news) made about 32,000, while Brian Moynihan made $6.5 million. There's no reason to feel bad for Lewis. The AP notes his accumulated compensation and retirement benefits totaled $73 million, according to a preliminary filing disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC news). Also, Lewis' beneficiaries will receive a $10.3 million life insurance payment whenever Lewis and his wife die. 

For more:
- here's a Reuters article

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