In my 10/26/09 blog post, I commented on how I was noticing a number of executives leaving bailout companies, only to show up at non-bailout companies a short time later. Today I read in the Wall Street Journal that the CEO of GM is stepping down AND Bank of America is going to pay back the government all of the Bailout money, because they are having a very hard time attracting a new CEO to replace outgoing Ken Lewis. Not sure if this is just a compensation thing or if there is more involved, but what GM or BofA caliber CEO is going to take the reigns of a company where they will be forced to answer to Congress AND have Congress dictate their compensation? BofA is so concerned that they aren't going to be able to attract the right CEO, that they are going to pay back $18 billion to increase their chances. $18 Billion plus the search firm fees for a new CEO is going to go down as the highest placement fee in history. As far as I know, GM doesn't have the resources to repay their bailout money, so it will be interesting to see who is brave enough (or desperate enough) to step up to the plate there.