Harold Ford's NBC contract suspended

Huffington Post:

Harold Ford Jr.'s role as an NBC political analyst has been "put on hold."
Politico's Michael Calderone reports that, according to an MSNBC spokesperson, Ford's NBC contract "was put on hold" weeks ago. His appearances on the network are now in the capacity of potential political candidate.

Ford is mulling a run for Senator against Kirsten Gillibrand in New York.

"Now I've taken a 45-day unpaid leave of absence from my job at Merrill Lynch," he said recently.

"It's not right to draw a salary when I'm out every day campaigning. Fortunately, I've still got a little NYU teaching job and some MSNBC, so for a while I think I can put food on the table."

Oh, and a little history of Ford's job at Merrill Lynch which is now Bank of America: Ford joined Merrill Lynch as vice chairman and senior policy advisor in March 2007. Click here.

Now NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking into Merrill Lynch compensation bonuses in 2008 and 2009. Here is what Cuomo is looking for in those bonus babies:

Ranking Merrill Lynch executives got more, much more.

Let Cuomo tell it:


The top four bonus recipients received a combined $121 million;
The next four bonus recipients received a combined $62 million;
The next six bonus recipients received a combined $66 million;
Fourteen individuals received bonuses of $10 million or more and combined they received more than $250 million;
20 individuals received bonuses of $8 million or more;
53 individuals received bonuses of $5 million or more;
149 individuals received bonuses of $3 million or more;


Overall, the top 149 bonus recipients received a combined $858 million;
696 individuals received bonuses of $1 million or more.


Several Tennesseans familiar with Harold Ford's activities at Merrill Lynch professed no doubt that Ford was among the beneficiaries of the bonus payout and little doubt, for that matter, that he was among those receiving relatively substantial sums.