HP's Apotheker Leaves with $13 Million; Whitman on the Books for $1 a Year

Posted 09/30/2011 at 6:57am | by Paul Lilly

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It pays more to be kicked out of HP's circle of trust than it does to be hired and put at the helm. After much ballyhooing in the blogosphere about the severance package departing CEO Leo Apotheker will receive after a short 11-month stint, the real numbers are in, as reported by HP this week in a regulatory filing. The tally? More than $13 million cash and stock.

In a twisted kind of way, the fuzzy numbers almost make sense. Under Apotheker's lead, HP's market value came crashing down $40 billion, so what's another $13 million out the door? Mark Hurd, meanwhile, left the company with $12.2 million in cash and $30 million in stock after sitting at the helm for five years and boosting HP's value by $50 billion, the Sacremento Bee reports.

Incoming CEO Meg Whitman, who is already a billionaire from her eBay days, will earn $1 per year. That's before bonus pay that could be worth up to several million dollars. Whitman also has the option to purchase 1.9 million shares of HP stock over the next two years. That's all well and good, but if history is any indication, the real money will come when HP's board inevitably shows her the door.