Progress Energy CEO William Johnson is paid $44 million for one day of work

Cotdamn shawty!!!

Progress Energy CEO William Johnson Paid $44 Million For One Day Of Work

One guy just got paid $44 million to be CEO for a day.

In an apparent corporate coup, Duke Energy, an electric power holding company that recently merged with Progress Energy, appears to have reneged on the spirit of its merger agreement with Progress, the Los Angeles Times reports. The merger agreement stipulated that the new company would have Progress’ William Johnson as chief executive and Duke’s James Rogers as executive chairman, according to The New York Times.

But within hours of the merger’s completion and installation of Johnson as CEO of the combined company, the board of directors asked for Johnson’s resignation and installed Rogers as the combined company’s CEO. For the mere day he served as CEO, Johnson was provided a compensation package which included $44 million, Forbes reports.

Johnson’s yet unexplained ouster may have damaged the trust of the combined firm.

In a letter sent to the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, former top director of Progress John Mullin stated that he viewed the action as “one of the greatest corporate hijackings in U.S. business history” (h/t Forbes).

But if you think that’s something, check this out…

Johnson isn’t the first CEO to net a huge paycheck on his way out. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch took home $417,361,902 when he left the company. In addition, Doug Foshee could have actually gotten paid to not do his job. The CEO of El Paso at the time of the company’s merger with Kinder Morgan in October was eligible for an exit package worth $95 million if he left within two years of the acquisition.

Must be nice as HELL to be one of these corporate mucky-mucks…

Image via Forbes

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