Massive severance packages and golden parachutes are everything but news, but it's always worth pointing them out. Like in the case ex-HP CEO Leo Apotheker, who leaves the company with a very tidy sum-- a $7.2 million, to be precise.
In additional, he also receives a $2.4 million bonus and $3.7M in stock, as the regulatory filing from the US Securities and Exchange Commission shows. And HP will even pay the lawyers negotiating the package!
One would think Apotheker led HP to a prosperous new golden age, rather than getting kicked out after 11 months on the job after the company dropped by 45% in value...
Meanwhile replacement Meg Whitman will receive a base salary of $1 a year (according to the same regulatory filing) together with the option to buy more than 1.9M HP shares and a 2012 bonus worth anything between $2.4-6M.
Such facts say alot on how corporate culture throws money around in wild abandon (at its own, mind) during a recession, right?
