The News: Who Made What at the Top of Banking's Payscale

And the winner is ... John G. Stumpf. The Wells Fargo chief executive led the financial industry for 2009 with $18.7 million in compensation, the New York Times reports, citing an analysis by the compensation research firm Equilar.

JPMorgan Chase CEO James Dimon came in second place with $17.6 million. A less-known figure within JPMorgan, Chief Investment Officer Ina R. Drew, was paid about $13 million. Her correct calls on interest rates helped the bank earn several billion dollars of profit, the Times says.

"Since the bailout, the rules of banker pay are bending," the story observes. "Some of the industry's biggest names are being paid less than relative unknowns. Chief executives, who are usually at the top of the pay heap, are taking home roughly the same amounts as executives who work for them - and sometimes less."

For instance, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein ranked well down the list at $9.7 million. He holds the record among Wall Street chief executives with a $67.9 million bonus in 2007. However, Reuters reports that payouts of that magnitude "are probably gone for good."

Other leaders in the pay derby for last year include the top executives at money-management leader BlackRock, mid-size broker-dealer Jefferies, and the four big credit card companies, Visa, Mastercard, Capital One and American Express. Visa CEO Joseph W. Saunders, for instance, made about $15.5 million - far more than his counterparts at Bank of America and Citigroup.

Wall St.'s Biggest Bonuses Go to Not-So-Big Names [NY Times]

Goldman CEO Blankfein Will See Better Paydays [Reuters]

Blackstone Plans Return to Germany [WSJ]

Gundlach Answers TCW, Files Own Case [WSJ]

Advisers Go Alone on Personal Finances [Investment News]

Making a Temporary Stint Stick [WSJ]

Midas Fund's Winmill Turns Gold Rise Into 83% Return on Miners [Bloomberg News]