Goldman Holders Call for Cut of Bonus Pool

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Some of Goldman Sachs' (GS) largest shareholders are urging the firm to reduce its bonus pool, arguing it should pass along more of its earnings to investors, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The investors hold tens of millions of shares in Goldman Sachs, the Journal reports.

The firm is on track to make the biggest employee payout in the firm's 140-year history. Goldman staff is on pace to earn about $717,000 apiece for 2009. Excluding temporary employees and consultants would increase compensation per employee to about $775,000, the Journal notes.

One frustration of shareholders, the Journal says, is that despite record net income and compensation at Goldman, analysts expect its 2009 per-share earnings to be 22% lower than in 2007 and roughly equal to its 2006 earnings.

The decline is caused by issuing more than 100 million shares in the past year to bolster Goldman's financial position and capital. The shareholders have said that reducing the bonus pool would increase earnings per share and the stock price, the Journal reports, citing people familiar with the discussions.

-- Reported by Joseph Woelfel in New York .

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