Bloomberg is reporting that Cerberus Capital would be willing to forgo any profits from a future sale of troubled portfolio company Chrysler should the federal government pull the trigger and bailout the auto industry.

Given Chrysler’s private-owner status, CEO Bob Nardelli is hoping the offer elminates questions of unfair gains for Cerberus should government assistance give the company time to turn things around.

If a bailout does go through, this will mark a full circle for Chrysler, which would enjoy its second bailout in the last thirty years.  This time around however, it will need to rebound under private equity ownership which will be a true test for Nardelli.

Even if Robert is able to perform a successful turnaround, no doubt he won’t be looking at the upper end of his orginal compensation package.  The new best-case scenario for Cerberus is a free lesson in the US auto business.