Well, who said you can’t count on stability anymore? That things are changing too rapidly. Not to worry:

   It was a tough year for Bank of America what with the foreclosure mess and a sagging stock price. Its chief executive, Brian T. Moynihan, nonetheless received $10 million in his first year on the job.

Mr. Moynihan will get a bonus of $9.05 million in the form of restricted stock, along with a base salary of $950,000, bringing his total pay to $10 million for 2010. In 2009, before Mr. Moynihan took over as chief executive, he received a total of $6.1 million in compensation.

  I know you’re saying–I got a massive bonus my first year on the job, and I didn’t even work for a company that took its customers down a rathole of bankrupcty and fear. You didn’t? Maybe you just weren’t as charming as Mr. Moynihan.

And…

Black Rock Inc. awarded Chairman and Chief Executive Laurence Fink a bonus valued at nearly $13 million in restricted stock and options, one of the largest Wall Street bonus awards disclosed this season. The board awarded Mr. Fink the $13 million in both restricted stock and options, which based on Thursday’s average price, when the award was determined, translated to 46,031 restricted shares and 18,712 three-year options

   All in all, I guess this falls into the New York Times’ attitude that we all have to live within our means. Right.