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Ex-HP-CEO Leo Apotheker is leaving Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) with as much as $23 million in severance, stock, and bonus payments -- maybe more. He'll also get relocation and legal expenses on top. In IT Blogwatch, bloggers stare, open-mouthed, at the size of the payment.
Your humble blogwatcher curated these bloggy bits for your entertainment. Not to mention: Sri Lankan/Candian politician Photoshops her own pic...
When Apotheker signed on...he agreed to a base salary of $1.2 million [plus] an annual bonus of 200 percent to 500 percent. ... He received hundreds of thousands of shares under various stock plans...a $4 million signing bonus and an additional $4.6 million for relocation expenses and other payments.
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At the time Apotheker took over, HP had just agreed to pay Mark Hurd...more than $12 million...following accusations of sexual harassment. ... His payout was about half of that received by Carly Fiorina...who got more than $21 million when she was forced out in 2005.
Arik Hesseldahl adds it all up:
He will receive...$7.2 million payable in installments...vesting of 156,000 shares...valued at $3,557,800...424,000 of the 728,000 performance-based restricted stock units...under his contract. Apotheker has waived his right to receive the remaining 304,000 PRUs. ... Hell only get them if HP hits its annual cash flow targets...another $10 million.
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An annual bonus of $2.4 million...relocation expense back to Europe, and up to $300,000 coverage he incurs on the loss of the sale of his $7 million, six-bedroom house. ... Health benefits or payment for health insurance premiums for Apotheker and his family for 18 months...[and] legal fees.
Devin Coldewey is green with astonishment:
I understand that this high pay is part of our business culture, but really, now. ... Apotheker...[is] leaving with millions in cash and stock, and HP will even be paying for the lawyers who negotiated the package.
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Apothekers...handling of Palm and webOS is wide open to criticism. It...needed to be shaped while it was hot...he didnt do that, and now its a billion-dollar boondoggle. ... His big move to split up the business was certainly ballsy, but so was the charge of the light brigade.
Timothy Prickett-Morgan registers some context:
Apotheker, who was not asked to stay on...[at] SAP in February 2010...clearly wanted and needed a big-time job like the one he snagged at HP...to vindicate himself. But it was never clear why HP hired Apotheker.
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There's an old saying, variously attributed to Mae West, Sophie Tucker, W.C. Fields, and others..."I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, rich is better."
Meanwhile, Drew Olanoff is stoic:
Apotheker was CEO of HP for 11 months.
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In short, it can obviously be expensive to hire and then remove a CEO from a publicly traded tech company.
