Report: GM Overpaid Execs Under Bailout Rules

Last year General Motors Co. paid each of 16 top executives more than the $500,000 cash cap per employee the company agreed to under terms of its bailout, according to a watchdog report.

GM pledged to observe the limit as long as the U.S. Dept. of Treasury held shares in the company. The last of those shares were sold off last December, leaving the government with a net loss of $11.2 billion on the $50 billion it invested in GM in 2009 under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

A report by TARP's special inspector general says the program's Office of the Special Master apparently agreed to the overpayments to help GM retain key executives. The analysis says the overages ranged from $25,000 to $1.2 million per executive.

The Treasury Dept. doesn't dispute the numbers directly. But it says the report contains numerous inaccuracies and omissions. It says GM's median cash payments were 4% below the average at comparable companies.

The department also points out that TARP overall spent $425 billion and has so far recovered $440 billion from the companies it bailed out.

The special inspector general says another TARP recipient, the former General Motors Acceptance Corp., also overpaid its executives.