Skip to Content

Summer Budget Travel Tips from Gadling

Get paid $18 million for three weeks of work

More
Text SizeAAA

Filed under: Career

Truthfully, I don't think you or I are going to come upon an opportunity like this in the near future. But it's nice to know that in the land of opportunity, anything is possible. Even if it involves earning $18 million for a mere 3 weeks of work.

Alan Fishman has been the CEO of Washington Mutual for less than three weeks. And now that JPMorgan Chase has taken over the failed bank, he's likely to be out of a job. Lucky for him, his employment agreement calls for millions in severance pay if he's let go. How's that for a going away gift?

Fishman started running WaMu on September 7 after the company got rid of the prior CEO, Kerry Killinger. He's got a base salary of $1 million, plus a target annual bonus of $3.65 million, and a long-term incentive award of at least $8 million. Let's not forget about the $7.5 million signing bonus Fishman got for taking the position to start with.
No one's sure if Fishman will have to pay back all or part of his signing bonus, and we're also not sure how much of the incentives he'll actually get as he walks out the door. But it's possible that he could get a severance payment of $6.15 million, and possibly some of the other incentives that were available under the contract. And the company also pays any taxes associated with the severance package, which adds millions to the package.

Confused by the numbers yet? Although it's unclear how much Fishman will be paid under his employment contract if he's out of a job, we can rest assured that he'll get at least a few million (and maybe even several million) dollars to ease his pain. And all this after only three weeks as the head of WaMu. Where do I get a job like that?

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
Subscribe to Walletpop

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Zac Bissonnette
Zac Bissonnette Filed under: Kids and Money

Spoiled brat not happy with his 16th birthday present

Here's a heartwarming story of a dad who thought buying his son a pickup truck for his 16th birthday would be the best gift ever. . . And hey, so what if it was a bit of a beater? Apparently the kid ...
Jennifer Horn
Jennifer Horn Filed under: Food, Saving

Penny-Pinching Picnics: Summer party tips that will save you money

Summer is here and that means it is BBQ season. We all want to have a fun, stress-free backyard get-together without breaking the bank. Here are some tips to make you a BBQ bigshot. Don't buy ...
Jason Cochran
Jason Cochran Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology, Travel

Live, from Walt Disney World, it's the Obamabot!

Disney's big new attraction this year? The same as the media's: Barack Obama. Walt Disney World in Orlando, hunkering down for the economic storm, is in the rare position of not having any major ...
Jane Tuv
Jane Tuv Filed under: Sex Sells

Ukraine outlaws possession of porn, but can't define what it is

Make love, not porn, because if you live in the Ukraine, you'll get fined and sent to jail. Tuesday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko signed a bill into law, making the possession of pornography ...

Headlines from WalletPop Partners