At $26.7 million, the severance package Jeff Smisek will collect from United Continental Holdings—he stepped down as CEO in September in the midst of a corruption probe—sparked quite a brouhaha. But it was far from the largest parting gift in town this year.
Amount of severance package (in millions)
| Greg Wasson Walgreens Boots Alliance |
40 percent more than Smisek’s!
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| Jeff Smisek United Continental Holdings |
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| Patricia Woertz Archer Daniels Midland |
Not bad, given that women still make significantly less than men
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| Jim McNerney Boeing |
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| Tony Vernon Kraft Foods |
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| Don Thompson McDonald’s |
Or will it be only $5 million? See notes.
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NOTES: Severance includes cash payments, accelerated equity payments, continued vesting equity payments, and outstanding cash awards. Performance-based awards granted during 2015 are not included. 1. Estimated. Woertz and McNerney remain employees until early 2016, so their exit pay is not calculable until then; estimates assume a mid-September 2015 departure. 2. Vernon left the CEO job on December 27, 2014; his exit pay was calculated as of March 31, 2015, the date he left the company. 3. If McDonald’s fails to achieve its performance goals through 2016, the value of Thompson’s exit package could drop to about $5 million. SOURCE: Equilar