Word: wiggin
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...Retire Rich. This achievement was last week seized upon by Inquisitor Pecora and laid open for examination of its ethics. During Depression Mr. Wiggin had clamored loudly for wage reductions in industry but his own pay had gone booming along, had actually been raised in 1930 and 1931: 1928-$175,000 plus $100,000 bonus 1929-$175,000 plus $100,000 bonus 1930-$218,750 plus $75,000 bonus 1931-$250,000, no bonus 1932-$220,300, no bonus...
About these salaries and bonuses Mr. Pecora began to ask questions: Q. Who had fixed the amount of Mr. Wiggin's compensation? A. His fellow officers. "And I helped to fix theirs,'' added Mr. Wiggin. ". . . We all sat together." Q. Who had fixed the bonuses paid by the bank to officers? A. Mr. Wiggin had fixed the bonuses, his own bonus excepted. "What usually happened was that my associates suggested the amount, and I cut it down." Q. He had not been charged when the bank lost money-the bonus system only worked...
Arithmetic for Stockholders. Mr. Wiggin, good-natured, sure that he had not been overpaid, lost some of his good humor when questioned about Chase Securities Corp. Mr. Pecora made him admit figure by figure that the company (which sold $6,000,000,000 of securities, 5.68% of which went into default) had to reserve for losses 77% ($120,000,000) of its aggregate capital and earnings since 1917. To Mr. Pecora's charge that the company's reports to stockholders* had hidden losses Mr. Wiggin entered denials. Mr. Pecora gave him the company's reports...
Pools. Most reddening to Mr. Wiggin's face were Mr. Pecora's inquiries about pools in Chase's stock. Half a dozen pools, operated by a subsidiary of Chase Securities Corp. and various brokers in the years from 1927 to 1930, had traded in hundreds of thousands of shares of Chase Bank stock. During one pool the shares rose from $483 to $800. "Was that not a scheme for 'churning the market?' " demanded Mr. Pecora. Mr. Wiggin: I think the market was a God-given market. Senator Couzens: That is a new one. Senator Adams...
Cuba. Most of the investigation's fifth chapter of revelations was about Mr. Wiggin rather than his bank, but the bank -and Mr. Aldrich-came into it strongly on the subject of loans to Cuba. In a secret session of the committee Mr. Aldrich, who was not a Chase official when the loans were made, strongly urged that the subject be pigeonholed in view of the seething Cuban situation. It might lead to more bloodshed. His request leaked out and a Washington newspaper reported that ''Wall Street influences" were trying to keep the Senators from their work...