Credit Suisse Bankers Tie Pay to Company Profit

Credit Suisse First Boston Inc. Chief Executive John Mack has persuaded top technology investment banker Frank Quattrone to renegotiate his contract as part of Mack’s effort to slash $1 billion in expenses at the brokerage.

George Boutros and Bill Brady, Quattrone lieutenants who run technology merger advice and corporate finance, respectively, joined Quattrone in agreeing to tie their pay to a percentage of the firm’s overall profit--not just the earnings of the technology group.

“In a demonstration of their commitment to the firm and belief in its future, they have agreed to amend their employment contracts and tie their future financial rewards more closely to the success of the firm and Credit Suisse Group,” Mack said in a memo.

Quattrone, who runs a business that has been under investigation by regulators for its distribution of shares in initial public offerings, will join the executive committee of 19 people who make decisions at Credit Suisse First Boston, Mack said in the memo Monday to the firm’s technology bankers.

The agreement with Quattrone--and a similar pact under which bond chief Jack DiMaio and his team will give up a guarantee of $300 million in pay over the next three years--is Mack’s latest move to undo some of the compensation deals of his predecessor, Allen Wheat, who was ousted in July.

Mack said he will travel to Palo Alto, where the technology group is based, to meet with the bankers Wednesday and Thursday.

CSFB, like other brokerages, has struggled this year as the stock market’s woes have depressed the market for mergers and new stock offerings. But CSFB’s high cost structure has compounded its earnings problems.