[5] The article quoted Grasso as saying, "I invite members of the FARC to visit the New York Stock Exchange so that they can get to know the market personally".

Some found the meeting inexplicable, considering the FARC supports anti-capitalist ideals and has no officially recognized financial clout.

This caused immediate controversy, as the hand-picked compensation committee consisted mainly of representatives from NYSE-listed companies over which Grasso had regulatory authority as its CEO.

[7] Following criticism of the deal from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission chairman William H. Donaldson, who preceded Grasso as Chairman of the NYSE, and several pension fund heads (who control some of the largest pools of equity investment capital in the United States), the NYSE board asked Grasso to leave in a 13–7 vote.

[8] Law firm Winston & Strawn carried out an investigation, on behalf of the NYSE, and a comprehensive report analyzing Grasso's alleged excessive compensation and benefits, and the governance failures behind it, was completed in December.

[9] On May 24, 2004, Grasso was sued by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer demanding repayment of the majority of the $140 million pay package.

The counterclaim was twofold; It sought restitution of unpaid portions of his retirement package and further accused certain individuals at the Exchange of "besmirching his name".

[10] Although Grasso will appeal, the same article reports that Spitzer's office has disclosed the amount of restitution to be in the tens of millions of dollars.