Columbia S&L; Chief Spiegel Takes Pay Cut

Thomas Spiegel, 40-year-old chief executive of Columbia Savings & Loan, took a sharp pay cut in 1986 but still received compensation of about $4.38 million, according to the company’s latest proxy statement.

Though huge by the standards of the savings and loan industry, the $4.38 million is less than half the $9-million compensation package that Spiegel received in 1985. That made him one of the best-paid executives in corporate America.

But the $9-million package sparked considerable anger at the Federal Home Loan Bank Board and eventually led to regulatory demands that Spiegel give back all but his $960,000 salary. The lion’s share of the $9 million was a deferred $5-million payment into a special retirement fund.

The regulatory demands remain unresolved, the proxy statement said.

Spiegel’s 1986 compensation included a salary of $960,000, a bonus of $2.9 million and interest on his supplemental retirement fund of $524,365.

The proxy also shows that company Chairman Abraham Spiegel, Thomas’ 80-year-old father, received almost $615,000 in compensation in 1986, compared to the $560,500 he got in 1985. Most of Columbia Savings’ stock is controlled by the Spiegel family.