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Martin Hughes, the high-profile hedge-fund manager and majority owner of Toscafund Asset Management, took a massive pay cut last year but still collected a cool £15 million.
Toscafund, which unlike many hedge-fund managers tends to take large positions based on specific share prices rising not falling, placed massive bets on the housebuilding sector and several financial services companies in 2008.
The result was that the firm's flagship Tosca Fund lost more than 60% of its value over the year.
That meant the fund managers' profits in turn dropped 83% from £158 million to £26.9 million before paying out bonuses and profit share.
The highest-paid director, who is almost certainly Hughes, saw their pay drop from £75 million to £14.9 million.
Toscafund came under severe pressure to cut its
£1.7 billion debt mountain last year and was forced to sell its 10% stake in Taylor Wimpey and a 27% stake in Redrow at huge losses in October.
It also bought a 6% stake in Washington Mutual, the United States savings bank, ahead of it being put into receivership.
