Until recently, dick grasso was a symbol of capitalist success. He'd started as a listings clerk at the New York Stock Exchange in 1968 and 30 years later had climbed to the top of the organization, despite his working-class origins and an education that went no further than high school. But last week his story morphed from success to excess. His $140 million payday cost him his job. It's easy to moralize about Grasso's downfall and the evils of greed, but there are more subtle forces at work here. Grasso was playing by the old "high-pay-OK" rules, and the game has changed since the stock bubble burst and corporate scandals erupted. Although famous for his PR skills, Grasso didn't apologize, and he didn't really defend himself, either. He seemed totally clueless, as if he didn't see the rules had changed. The board did see that, and insisted on disclosing his pay immediately rather than waiting until the NYSE annual report comes out early next year. But the board is now stuck trying to explain the unexplainable: why it forced out a man for taking the money that it gave him.
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