Quit on first day, get $44,000,000

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**d-usa**

Source:

Hours after new Duke Energy CEO Bill Johnson assumed his new position following the Duke/Progress Energy merger this week, he resigned his post. But Johnson can still qualify for up to $44.4 million for his time and effort:

Despite his short-lived tenure, Mr. Johnson will receive exit payments worth as much as $44.4 million, according to Duke. That includes $7.4 million in severance, a nearly $1.4 million cash bonus, a special lump-sum payment worth up to $1.5 million and accelerated vesting of his stock awards, according to a Duke regulatory filing Tuesday night. Mr. Johnson gets the lump-sum payment as long as he cooperates with Duke and doesn’t disparage his former employer, the filing said.

Under his exit package, Mr. Johnson also will receive approximately $30,000 to reimburse him for relocation expenses.
The Duke board voted for Johnson’s resignation, and since Johnson was eligible for severance if he quit for “good reason,” he is able to collect his $44 million. Grist calculates that Johnson’s pay package comes out to $5.5 million per hour, if he actually put in a full 8-hour day.

Johnson’s golden parachute after his one day of work is emblematic of the disconnect between worker pay and CEO pay that has occurred over the last few decades. Average CEO pay is now 380 times the pay of the average worker, and CEO pay has grown 127 times faster than worker pay over the last 30 years.

**juraigamer**

Heresy.

**Jihadin**

Lynch party

**d-usa**

I think if I was a shareholder, I would be asking some questions...

**Kilkrazy**

Damn, I wish I could get a job like that.

If everyone would take the trouble to spend a day as a CEO, decide it's not their thing and resign with $44,000,000 the economic crisis would be over faster than a Ducati Imperator.

**Horst**

There should be some kind of crazy USA vigilante group that goes around killing people like this.

**SagesStone**

Which get to give up after about a day of hunting and get a nice lump sum payment for their troubles?

**Snrub**

n0t_u wrote:Which get to give up after about a day of hunting and get a nice lump sum payment for their troubles?

Its people like you what cause unrest! That being said, im down for a spot of head hunting. Whens the bus leave?

Feth me... 44.4 for a days work? Gotta find this dude and swipe his credit card.

**Grundz**

Jihadin wrote:Lynch party

STFU, He obviously finally got his just reward for a lifetime of backbreaking heavy labor!

**p_gray99**

Kilkrazy wrote:Damn, I wish I could get a job like that.

If everyone would take the trouble to spend a day as a CEO, decide it's not their thing and resign with $44,000,000 the economic crisis would be over faster than a Ducati Imperator.

Hell, the crisis would be over faster than one of your bad metaphors

On a more serious note, this kind of thing is why I'm far left wing. I can't imagine how people can think it's fair for him to earn that money for nothing.

**Clthomps**

Well I for one, support all the financial decisions of our new corporate overlords.

All hail capitalism! Romney 2012!

**Lynata**

Indeed. Don't tell me anyone is surprised that stuff like this happens?

Have you seen what guys like him get all the time when they quit? The only difference between him and many of his upper class colleagues is that this one left before running a company into the ground and firing a couple thousand workers before cashing in the millions.

Actually, I'm somewhat surprised that this doesn't happen more often, but I guess some people's lifestyle just requires them to earn millions upon millions every year instead of ever having "enough" and simply retiring to a nice Pacific island.

**Jihadin**

STFU, He obviously finally got his just reward for a lifetime of backbreaking heavy labor!

Fine...I make sure its a high quality made hardwood victorian chair he stand on before I kick it out from under him......now if you come up with a water cannon as an alternative then I be willing....happyly willing to um..."drown" him

**p_gray99**

Lynata wrote:Indeed. Don't tell me anyone is surprised that stuff like this happens?

Have you seen what guys like him get all the time when they quit? The only difference between him and many of his upper class colleagues is that this one left before running a company into the ground and firing a couple thousand workers before cashing in the millions.

Actually, I'm somewhat surprised that this doesn't happen more often, but I guess some people's lifestyle just requires them to earn millions upon millions every year instead of ever having "enough" and simply retiring to a nice Pacific island.

I doubt that anyone that regularly visits the off-topic forum is surprised. However, the vast majority of people have no idea simply because (as far as I'm aware - don't quote me on this) this kind of thing isn't reporting in the Sun, Daily Mail etc. If people did know, there would probably be a reasonable amount of uproar. However for anything to get changed needs a reasonable amount of money... You see where I'm going with this?

**Chongara**

Hard work rewarded, system works. You all are just jealous that you were too lazy to take advantage of opportunity the way he was. This kind of jealously is just pathetic, especially since the man is a job creator! His perseverance just ensured another at least $44 Million in new job will be hiring.

**Lynata**

For a moment you really had me there, until I read that last sentence. Not bad, not bad at all.

**juraigamer**

Demand creates jobs, without demand there is no need for a job as it serves no purpose. Demand also pays for the job's salary.

**Grundz**

Jihadin wrote:
STFU, He obviously finally got his just reward for a lifetime of backbreaking heavy labor!

Fine...I make sure its a high quality made hardwood victorian chair he stand on before I kick it out from under him......now if you come up with a water cannon as an alternative then I be willing....happyly willing to um..."drown" him

I see, you're a TERRORIST

**Lynata**

juraigamer wrote:Demand creates jobs, without demand there is no need for a job as it serves no purpose.

That might have been true a couple decades ago, but I don't think this necessarily applies to all jobs today. Unless we are referring to different definitions of "demand" in an economy.

**Kilkrazy**

I'm hoping the shareholders will sue the board of directors for malfeasance. It utterly confounds my imagination that a contract that pays someone $44,000,000 for resigning after a week, should have got past them.

**sebster**

I don't think there's any point blaming this particular guy. I mean, if anyone offered you a job that had $44 million in benefits when you left, would you say no? And once you had that job, and the board was voting to get rid of you, wouldn't you quit and take your money?

The point is, again, about the system that produces these results, and what could be done to change that system to stop stuff like this happening again.

**Iur_tae_mont**

While it does seem excessive at first, We overlook one thing.

He was the CEO of Progress Energy for 5 years and worked for the company for 17. They merged with Duke and he left.

It's not like Ebeneezer Scrooge opened up his Window Christmas morning and said, "You there, How would you like to be CEO for a day?" The guy put in 17 years into a Company that merged with Duke. Five of those as CEO for the other company.

It's still a lot of money for someone to get for leaving, but when you consider some CEOs make more money than most Suburbs, it's not completely asinine

**Kilkrazy**

That's one way of looking at it.

Another way is that he took home 17 years of pay before his last week so why should he get more as a golden parachute on top of his existing pay and pension than you will make in the next 400 years.

**p_gray99**

Iur_tae_mont wrote:While it does seem excessive at first, We overlook one thing.

He was the CEO of Progress Energy for 5 years and worked for the company for 17. They merged with Duke and he left.

It's not like Ebeneezer Scrooge opened up his Window Christmas morning and said, "You there, How would you like to be CEO for a day?" The guy put in 17 years into a Company that merged with Duke. Five of those as CEO for the other company.

It's still a lot of money for someone to get for leaving, but when you consider some CEOs make more money than most Suburbs, it's not completely asinine

Ok, he's worked for quite a while doing reasonable work. And some CEOs make far more money. But that still doesn't make it anywhere near fair. People work for their whole lives and never get anywhere near that amount of money as their total for their entire lives. The fact he worked hard before this still doesn't make it fair. Yes, his job had more responsibility than most. But if he'd done that job amazingly well for his entire life, he wouldn't have earned that money, simply because it's far more than most people even get the opportunity to see that money, never mind get it for 17 years of work. Hell, if someone turned earth into a paradise, I don't think that would warrent them getting that much money because it's simply excessive and could be use so much more effectively elsewhere.

**Leigen_Zero**

p_gray99 wrote:Ok, he's worked for quite a while doing reasonable work. And some CEOs make far more money. But that still doesn't make it anywhere near fair.

Since when has capitalism been about fairness?

Admittedly it's not like there is a decent alternative, but in my infinitesimal knowledge of economics and big business I am yet to see how it is a fair system.

**p_gray99**

I never said capitalism is about fairness. However, the system we use should be about fairness to some extent. And just because no system yet tried has worked doesn't mean there isn't one out there.

**Lynata**

Leigen_Zero wrote:Admittedly it's not like there is a decent alternative

I'd say there is, but at the same time I think it would crumble due to outside pressure and human egoism.
Maybe in another hundred years we can try again.

**Nicorex**

Im surprised he quit. I would have let the board fire me, so I would egt the golden parachute and then also be able to collect unenployment.

**Chongara**

Sometimes I just feel like maybe I should trying writing a letter to every person with over $50,000,000 or so to their name and asking

"Yo. You mind giving me like $100,000. I could kind just of use some extra money, ya know? Come help a guy out, I'd totally think you were a super cool bro. I know you don't want everyone askin' when they find out you gave me the money so I'd totes not tell anyone, I'd even sign an NDA or whatever"

I'd probably have a better a chance of one of them giving me the money as a lark, than all those suckers who play the lottery have of winning any meaningful sum of money.

**SagesStone**

Send one out every year to all of them.