Government to slash Chrysler executive pay

Top executives at Chrysler Group will soon see a major cut in their paychecks. As soon as today, the U.S. Treasury plans to announce new limitations on executive pay packages at companies that received the most government assistance under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In addition to Chrysler, affected companies include General Motors, American International Group (AIG), Bank of America and Citigroup.

Kenneth Feinberg, special master at the Treasury, has been studying executive pay at the companies and, according to sources, plans to cut pay for the top 25 executives at each firm by about 50 percent. One insider told the Associated Press that no executive at AIG will receive more than $200,000.

It is unclear at this time whether Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne and some of the executives he brought from Fiat will be affected by the new measures. Marchionne is currently being paid by Fiat SpA which is not part of the government program.