John Mack, Morgan Stanley 
After nearly $11 billion in write-downs last year and the first quarterly loss in company history, some investors demanded a showdown over Mack's pay. That confrontation didn’t materialize, and Mack survived without new limits.

James Cayne, Bear Stearns
Long before the recent meltdown, when Bear lost $10 billion in one day, the value of Cayne's stock had skyrocketed to about $1 billion and his compensation had reached $40 million. 

Bob Nardelli, Home Depot 
The mortgage crisis has made for tough times at Home Depot, which posted a drop in annual sales last year for the first time in three decades. Shareholders sued to stop Nardelli from leaving with a $210 million payout in 2007. Home Depot later settled.

Stan O'Neal, Merrill Lynch
Write-downs in the neighborhood of $30 billion over the past three quarters mean hard times ahead for ­Merrill. But O’Neal, the recently departed C.E.O., walked away from the mess in October with $162 million.