Stanley O'Neal, Merril Lynch: $160 million, including more than $129 million in stock and options. O'Neal takes the fall for failing to adequately control the firm's credit and market risks, which resulted in a stunning $8 billion-plus write down in the third quarter.
Philip Purcell, Morgan Stanley: $43.9 million plus $250,000 a year for life after being forced out. He angered a group of shareholders who had already called for a break up of the firm by reorganizing management and promoting some executives who were seen as loyal to him. The dissident shareholders won out.
Richard Grasso, New York Stock Exchange: Took $140 million in deferred compensation and the disclosure of that payment sparked a furor that led to his departure. The pay also provoked an investigation and lawsuits, which are still being worked out. Grasso has vowed to fight.
Douglas Ivester, Coca-Cola: Took $120 million when he stepped down in 2000 in his mid-50s. The departure was deemed a "retirement," but Ivester had presided over a period of stagnant growth, declining earnings and bad publicity.
Robert Nardelli, Home Depot: $210 million. He fixed up the home products retailer using techniques he learned as an executive at General Electric, but by 2006, he was starting to seriously irritate shareholders. The final straw was when he told the board to skip the annual shareholder meeting and prevented shareholders from speaking for more than a few minutes. He was ousted in January 2007.
Bruce Karatz, KB Homes: Gets up to $175 million. The former chief executive of the home building company resigned in November 2006 after an internal investigation into whether he and other executives backdated stock option grants. Stephen Hilbert, Conseco: Took an estimated $72 million.
Hilbert bought GreenTree Financial in 1998, just as the subprime lending business was about to go topsy turvy. The purchase left Conseco, an insurance company, with big write downs and ultimately contributed to its 2001 bankruptcy. The company has since reemerged from reorganization.
Michael Ovitz, Disney: $140 million after less than two years on the job. A former big-time Hollywood agent, Ovitz was recruited to Disney to work under Chairman Michael Eisner, but the two couldn't play nice. The pay was disputed in a Delaware court, which decided in 2005 that the board didn't violate its fiduciary duty in awarding that much severance.
Hank McKinnell, Pfizer: $198 million, including $78 million in deferred compensation he built up in 35 years at the pharmaceutical company. Pfizer shares sank 40% on his watch, which ended last year. The company had to cut billions in costs and fire thousands of employees, and said it wouldn't see revenue growth until 2009.
Frank Newman, Bankers Trust: $55 million. A former deputy Treasury secretary, Newman was brought to Bankers Trust to restore confidence after the 1994 derivatives scandal. He made aggressive moves into technology banking and lending (buying boutique Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997). But that push plus a big position in Russian government bonds, put the bank on the brink. Newman left in 1999 after selling the company to Deutsche Bank.
http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10004703.shtmlhttp://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/thread.cfm/threadid:25303#245761http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/01/mozilo-severanc.htmlhttp://www.smartmoney.com/editorspage/index.cfm?story=20070103
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