A former top executive at Merrill Lynch who received a $25 million golden parachute after just three months of work has purchased a $37 million Park Avenue palace.
Peter Kraus, 55, paid the staggering sum for a five-bedroom co-op on New York's posh Park Avenue after getting a $25 million buyout from Merrill Lynch when the company was sold to Bank of America in September, the New York Post reported.
• Click here to see more photos of the $37 million palace.
The 15-room apartment — featuring 11-foot-high ceilings, four fireplaces, three maid's rooms, a mahogany-paneled library and a gym upstairs — sold for twice what the previous owners, Democratic fund-raisers Carl Spielvogel and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, paid for it nearly two years ago, the Post reported.
Although he did not officially start work until September, Kraus hit it big after just a couple of days in office, when the Merrill Lynch's CEO sold the company to Bank of America for $50 billion during the market meltdown. [...]