Sacked American International Group chief executive Martin Sullivan is likely to walk away with a severance package of as much as $68m, a corporate watchdog group said last night.
The Corporate Library, a group that tracks governance and compensation issues, made the estimate from the company's executive severance plan and most recent proxy statement filed with regulators.
Sullivan was ousted over the weekend after AIG reported a first-quarter net loss of $7.81 billion, the biggest in its history, and had to raise $20 billion in capital to shore up the balance sheet of the world's biggest insurer.
According to the Corporate Library, the package for Sullivan would include $26.6m in cash bonuses, $21.9m in stock awards and $14m in a deferred compensation plan. Pension, salary and insurance benefits would also be included.
The package, if confirmed, would be the latest in a series of massive payouts for CEOs that sparked criticism from shareholders, policymakers and others.
According to the Corporate Library, the Sullivan payout 'mirrors other recent resignations tied to sub-prime losses, such as that of Charles Prince of Citigroup, who received $40m in severance after the company wrote down more than $24m; and Stanley O'Neal of Merrill Lynch, who received more than $160m after the company wrote down more than $23 billion.'
Bob Nardelli left Home Depot with a $210m payoff last year. AT&T chairman and chief executive Edward Whitacre retired last year with a $158.5m payout, according to the Corporate Library. In 2003, revelations of a $140m retirement package for New York Stock Exchange CEO Dick Grasso also created shockwaves.
AIG sacked Sullivan after a bumpy three-year tenure which saw record losses and plummeting share prices. Sullivan, who joined AIG at 17 years of age, took over the company top spot in 2005 after his predecessor, Hank Greenberg, resigned amid a federal probe into accounting practices.
