Dotcom boss in £57m pay deal

The head of an online stockbroking firm has laughed off the dotcom gloom to claim a £57million pay package.

Christos Cotsakos, the chief executive of E*Trade, earned more than four times as much as any of his Wall Street peers last year - even though his company made a £164.5million loss.

His package included salary and bonuses of £3.3million, £20million to repay loans, £20million of shares and options plus £6million pension.

Mr Cotsakos - a Vietnam veteran who was awarded the Purple Heart - joined E*Trade in 1996 after 19 years at delivery company Federal Express.

He is the author of several books on share dealing and has a university business school named after him.

As news of the payout spread in the US yesterday, E*Trade's shares - which peaked at 4700p during the dotcom boom - fell to less than 500p.

But E*Trade said: 'Look where he has taken this company in five short years.' It added the share options would ensure Mr Cotsakos, 53, continued to stay with the business, the second-biggest online broker.

Nevertheless, objections could be raised by shareholders at the annual meeting later this month.