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You've probably been staying up nights worrying about how hedge fund managers are going to weather the credit crunch stemming from the subprime mortgage storm. These men are expected to really suffer since they borrow so heavily to finance their gambling in global financial markets. Many were also stuck with piles of mortgage-backed securities when these paper assets plunged in value. A few funds have already stumbled, and Moody's credit raters have warned of a 50-50 chance that one of the big ones will crash soon.
For these troubling times, some reassuring thoughts:
He'll always have the pictures
Kenneth Griffin, head of Citadel Investment Group, chose Versailles as the site of his nuptials a few years ago and last year made a sum that would have made even Marie Antoinette's eyes pop: $1.2 billion. Now that heads are rolling from the mortgage meltdown, the image of the finance world's royals has lost a bit of its luster. And yet, unlike the ill-fated queen and and her Louis XVI, Griffin is expected to survive and maybe even come out ahead. He has already swooped in to take over the assets of one collapsed rival and is busily buying up the stocks of other battered companies. Go, Griffin!

Louis XVI Kenneth Griffin, Citadel Investment Group

See more stories tagged with: ceo pay, hedge funds, executive excess
Sarah Anderson directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies and is a co-author of Executive Excess 2007, released Aug. 29 by IPS and United for a Fair Economy.
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