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You can add some of Goldman Sachs's (GS) most important shareholders to the growing list of agitators who do not approve of the firm's plans to pay out record bonuses this year. The Wall Street Journal scoops the field this morning with an article about some of the firm's largest shareholders who believe Goldman should not be lavishing vast sums on management but instead should be turning over some of its "blockbuster earnings to investors." This truly is new ground for a normally staid investor group, the newspaper points out, adding that "their complaints in private conversations with the company and at analyst meetings show how anger over its big-money culture is spilling into the ranks of investors who typically shy away from debates over Wall Street pay." One major beef: Goldman is planning to pay out record bonuses even while earnings per share at the firm will come in 22 percent below the 2007 level. "Shareholders have said that reining in the bonus pool would deliver an upward jolt to per-share earnings and the share price, according to people familiar with the discussions," the newspaper writes, citing people in the know.

http://www.thebigmoney.com/features/tod ... ers-seethe

....and American Taxpayers seethe at Goldman Sachs shareholders for allowing this entitlement behavior to permeate thir business culture....

I'm a shareholder of Goldman Sachs and I'm not really all that angry.

GS hasn't had one month in 2009 where it didn't make $100 million or more in profit .

The stock is up about 300% this year alone. The company is stronger than ever and in a position to bring the stock above $200/share again soon.

This is due in a very large part to the traders and money managers that made really good decisions in the last year. They deserve very large bonuses. Some of these guys made hundres of millions of dollars for Goldman Sachs. They deserve a few million (or 20 in some cases).

There's no entitlement culture at Goldman. Do they currently owe the US government any TARP money or any other money? In fact, they paid their $10 billion loan back. And they paid it with interest. The Amerian taxpayers made 23% interest on the Goldman loan.

Actually, the rise in stock price is due to overbuying. What is it's P/E ratio compared so similar firms and its historical P/E? There's your answer.

It isn't the public that is demanding lower bonuses. It's the shareholders. They are the real stakeholders here and they have the right and even the responsibility to criticize poor fiscal decisions.