Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Obama administration pay cuts ordered at seven taxpayer-rescued companies leave 66 executives -- about half those reviewed -- with total long-term compensation of at least $1 million.

Multimillion-dollar packages were approved for 22 employees at GMAC Inc. and 18 at Citigroup Inc., according to reports yesterday from Kenneth Feinberg, the Treasury Department pay master who ordered cuts that shift pay to long-term stock awards. Feinberg’s report on New York-based Citigroup, Bank of America Corp. and five other companies getting multiple bailouts didn’t identify employees or disclose previous compensation.

The figures show that Wall Street, even after compensation was slashed by half in some cases, remains lucrative for top executives. The average American worker earned about $50,000 last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“If these people have talents that justify those levels of compensation and Feinberg tells them you can’t have it because you’re at Citigroup or Bank of America, the next thing you know they’ll be working at Goldman Sachs or JPMorgan Chase,” said Richard Sylla, an economic and financial historian at New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business in New York.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., both based in New York, have repaid U.S. aid and are not subject to Feinberg’s review.

The highest approved pay is $10.5 million for Robert Benmosche, chief executive officer of New York-based American International Group Inc., the insurer whose bailout totals $182 billion. That includes a cash salary, a so-called stock salary and long-term restricted stock. Four other AIG executives will get packages exceeding $1 million. Benmosche’s pay was previously approved.

Cash v. Stock

“There is entirely too much reliance on cash and there’s got to be a better way to tie corporate performance to long-term growth,” Feinberg said yesterday in Washington. “I’m hoping that the methodology we developed to determine compensation for these individuals might be voluntarily adopted elsewhere.”

Feinberg focused on reducing cash pay in favor of stock that can be sold beginning in 2011. For example, the three highest-paid executives at New York-based Citigroup will receive $475,000 each in salary and $9 million in total long-term pay.

At Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, 12 executives will make more than $1 million. Seven executives at Detroit-based General Motors Co., two at Chrysler Financial Corp. and one at Auburn Hills, Michigan-based Chrysler Group LLC will top $1 million, Feinberg’s reports show.

“Competitors not subject to the pay restrictions already are exploiting the situation by identifying our top performers and using pay concerns to recruit them away for fair-market compensation,” said Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri.

136 of 175

Feinberg, 63, analyzed pay packages for 136 employees out of 175, based on his assignment to review each company’s 25 highest-paid executives. Some executives in the jobs left the companies.

“We are pleased this decision has been issued and we will now work to comply with the plan’s requirements,” Citigroup spokesman Stephen Cohen said.

The review process by Feinberg was “fair and constructive” and will lead to a new compensation structure, Kim Fennebresque, chairman of GMAC’s compensation board, said in a statement.

“We believe the plan will enable us to retain key talent needed to continue the transformational efforts within the company and maximize the investments by our shareholders,” he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Katz in Washington at ikatz2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 23, 2009 00:01 EDT