Hightower Lowdown

With bankruptcies, bailouts, and forced mergers roiling Wall Street's financial institutions, it's hard to tell the players without a scorecard. So here's today's lineup of some of the biggest players, measured by the only way that Wall Street keeps score: money.

Leading off is Richard Fuld, CEO of now-dissolved Lehman Brothers. In his eight years as honcho, he took home nearly $500 million dollars, including $70 million he got last year as his company was collapsing. He now says he feels "horrible" about the whole mess--but not about his millions, or the four luxury homes he continues to enjoy.

Next up is Goldman Sachs. This venerable investment bank had to restructure itself in September in order to gain access to federal funds. It needed the tax money, in part, because three of Goldman's executives scored big last year, drawing around $56 million each.

Then there's AIG, the insurance behemoth whose debts cost us taxpayers $85 billion in bailout funds. Even as the company was going down, the CEO got AIG's board to waive pay guidelines so top executives could grab an extra $5 million in bonuses.

Finally, consider "Hammering Hank" Paulson, George W's treasury secretary, who designed the Wall Street bailout. Hank was CEO of Goldman Sachs for four years, during which he pocketed $111 million in pay.

The White House and Congress say the bailout bill limits the pay of CEOs who get taxpayer funds. But the bill has a couple of supersized loopholes. First, the limit applies only to a few banks that the government will actually take over, not those it simply bails out. Worse, the CEO pay restriction does not affect existing pay arrangements. So top honchos who have been wallowing in obscenely high pay packages can continue getting those riches.