...in an interview with CNN's Christine Romans Wednesday, Geithner's predecessor Henry Paulson shone some light upon why he deemed his close ties to Wall Street valuable.

"In hindsight it was a huge help," Paulson said, when asked of his own history as former CEO of Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs. Story continues below...

"One of the things I brought to the table was understanding markets, understanding what was going on at the different financial institutions," he continued. "And also, the fact that I've been a CEO helped me when it came to the decision-making process. I needed to be talking to the heads of all of the major firms."
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CNN's Romans said after the interview that Paulson criticized banks for handing out large executive compensations. She described him as admitting that pay was "out of whack" even when he headed Goldman Sachs.
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In 2005 alone, Paulson won $37 million in bonuses for his running of Goldman Sachs. In 2007, the New York Times pointed out that Paulson held a record for Wall Street executive compensation received in a year, though his compensation was bested by his successor, Lloyd Blankfein, who later received $67 million in compensation in a year.