In 1994 the top executive of a major UK company received a golden handshake of £3.2 million after being with the company for only 21 months. In 1993 it was reported that an arbitrator at a Japanese bank was earning £9 million per year, and the founder of a company was paying himself £13.5 million a year and £7 million in dividends. In 1994 it was reported that senior directors in privatized utility companies in the UK had amassed a paper wealth of more than £110 million from share option schemes, enabling them to make more money from these than from their much criticized salary increases. In 1994 a major UK bank announced bonuses totalling £100 million to its high-flying brokers and dealers two days after sacking 400 employees as part of a cost cutting drive.