Executive Exits As A Business Model

Paul Kedrosky writes:

Speaking of Merrill, Dealbook over at the NYT points out something interesting. With this deal, Merrill CEO John Thain's employment contract change of control clause will be triggered, and he will exit Merrill after merely ten months on the job with $25-million in total compensation.

That's impressive enough, but it's doubly so when you consider he got packaged out of the NYSE with just shy of $20-million not quite a year ago. Apparently Thain has turned executive exits into a business model.

Actually, Thain probably deserves his exit pay more than anyone else during the current financial crisis. Merrill is supposed to be the next Lehman and somehow Thain is able to sell Merrill for $29 per share? Not only does Thain deserve the $25 million, Merrill shareholders should chip in to make a bronze statute of Thain and plant it in front of the NYSE.