Merrill Lynch paid its top six executives $91m (€73.9m) last year with Stan O'Neal, chairman and chief executive, earning $28m.

The payout makes O'Neal the best-paid chief executive in the securities industry, outstripping his opposite numbers at rivals including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers. His pay was more than double what he received in 2002, after leading Merrill Lynch to record profits in 2003.