Grasso told to return $100 in pension benefit

A Court has ordered the former head of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Grasso, to return $100 million in pension payments and other benefit to the bourse, state officials said. The order was made in a partial summary judgment issued by New York State Supreme Court judge Charles Ramos following a protracted legal battle between Grasso and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Grasso resigned as the NYSE’s chairman in the late 2003, but made headlines with his generous $187 million severance and compensation package.

Spitzer subsequently sued Grasso in a civil lawsuit for the return of $120 million of his package, which he argued violated the stock exchange’s not-for-profit status at the time. Darren Dopp, a spokesman for Spitzer’s office, said in a statement that Grasso must return $100 million already paid to him by the NYSE court judgment. “In addition to the more than $80 million in pension funds that Grasso must return, the court found that Grasso must return substantial additional sums that wee advanced to him as part of his lump-sum payment in 2003,” Dopp said. He said the sums would likely be in the tens of millions and added that Grasso would have pay interest on $36 million in interest-free loans that he obtained from the NYSE. It was probable that Grasso, who won plaudits for swiftly restoring business at the NYSE following the September 11, 2001, attacks, would appeal yesterday’s ruling.