CEOs Get Paid to Leave When They Do Badly

Tweet This is amazing when you consider other people starve when they lose their job, whether it was their fault or not.

"The $18.2 million Nike paid William Perez in 2005 made him the highest-paid chief executive in the Northwest last year, according to The Seattle Times' annual calculation of how the region's public companies compensated their leaders."

"In Perez's case, it would be hard to argue he earned it."

"During his one-year tenure, Nike's stock price fell by more than $7 per share and The Swoosh lost nearly $2 billion in market value."

"Nike's board did not demand a refund when it asked the underperforming Perez to leave in January. Just the opposite. On top of his 2005 compensation, Nike gave Perez $8.3 million in severance pay, including $150,000 to cover moving expenses."