Mr Robert Willumstad, CEO of AIG

A cash crisis at the insurance giant left it on the brink of collapse. Mr Willumstad will lose his job in connection with the US government's US$85b rescue package.

It was not clear how much severance he might get.

When he became CEO, he was awarded an annual salary of US$1m and annual bonus and incentive awards worth a possible $21m. He also got restricted stock and options once valued at $36.5m.

Mr John Mack, CEO of Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley is one of two investment giants - the other being Goldman Sachs - left standing on Wall Street.

The brokerage is reportedly looking at a merger to save itself before it also gets swept up by the financial tsunami.

Yesterday, Mr Mack watched his company's value slashed at one point by 44 per cent. In a lunch-time memo to employees, he said: 'We're in the midst of a market controlled by fear and rumours. There is no rational basis for the movements in our stock.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on September 19, 2008.