Deeb Salem sues Goldman Sachs after he only got an $8 million bonus

A FORMER Goldman Sachs trader is suing the investment bank after his annual bonus was about $5 million less than he told his mum to expect.

18/05/2001 PIRATE: 18/05/2001. Generic photo of hand holding Australian one hundred dollar notes. Money, note, currency, $100.

IT’S hard being rich.

A former Goldman Sachs trader is suing the investment bank after his annual bonus was about $5 million less than he told his mum to expect.

Deeb Salem, 35, said in a New York arbitration hearing that he was led to believe that his 2010 bonus would be $US13 million ($13.83 million), down from the $US15 million he received a year before, Bloomberg News reports.

He claimed the $US8.25 million he ultimately received did not reflect his contributions, and that his lofty bonus expectations had kept him from jumping ship.

“Let’s be very clear: I was one of the most sought-after investment professionals in the mortgage industry,” Mr Salem said during the February 25 hearing. “I had the opportunity throughout the course of my career and throughout — from that day, from almost every month that I was at Goldman, to leave for other opportunities.”

He claimed his bonus was docked after a US Senate panel made his 2007 performance review public in 2011.

In the controversial document, Mr Salem detailed the Goldman’s plan to put a “short squeeze” on the mortgage market and compared himself to basketball star Michael Jordan. “’I don’t just want to win — I want to win every time and I want to steamroll the opposition,” he wrote.

Mr Salem, who left Goldman for a hedge fund after his 2011 bonus fell to $US3 million, was seeking more than $US16 million in pay from Goldman in arbitration, including about $US7 million in deferred stock he also said he was led to believe would be awarded to him.

Goldman Sachs argued Mr Salem was aware the firm could pay him whatever it wished. A spokesman for the bank told Bloomberg his claims were “utterly ridiculous”.

Mr Salem’s claims were recently rejected by a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) panel. His attorney has since filed a petition in New York State Supreme Court.