Every now and then, generally to quell public outrage, directors give up their bonuses. Bankers including Stephen Hester (former CEO of RBS) and Bob Diamond (former CEO of Barclays) gave up theirs in the face of public outrage over incompetence and skullduggery. Energy boss Sam Laidlaw (CEO of Centrica) gave up his bonus because of public outrage over price hikes. His peer at NPower, Paul Massarra, refused to give up his bonus saying it was just a gimmick.
The entire board of RBS declined their bonuses due to an £8billion loss and £3.1billion cost of legal fees and fines. Anthony Jenkins (CEO of Barclays) turned down his bonus, citing "very significant costs which have been required to address legacy litigation and conduct issues in 2013" (i.e. Barclays getting caught being very naughty indeed).
Did Jenkins throw his own bonus under the tram to provide cover for hiking to £2.4 billion the bonuses paid to his Barclays bankers, inspite of profits falling by nearly a third? To paraphrase Saint John: "No greater love hath any man than to give up his bonus for the bonuses of his staff."
But don't get too teary for these multimillion pound sacrifices. According to a report by KPMG, for your average FTSE100 boss bonuses only form a small layer of icing on a very fat cake:
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