Mark Evans

Nortel sure likes to lavish its CEOs financially. During the
telecom boom, it created a sweet options package that let John
Roth walk away with $135-million in 2000. The board approved a bonus program that convinced Frank Dunn he was going to have enough moo-lah to build a $10-million McMansion by Lake Ontario. (Mind you, Dunn allegedly tried to cook the books to achieve the bonus). Most recently, Nortel said it was willing to pay millions of dollars to Motorola so it wouldn't make it difficult for Mike Zafirovski
to become president and CEO. The latest example of corporate largesse
is the going away package for Bill Owens. In additional to a $1-million
a year pension, Nortel is make retirement easy for
the ex-U.S. Admiral by giving him 
a $2-million lump-sum severance package and a second lump sum worth as much as $3.4-million, and accelerating the vesting for all of his 2.9 million stock options.
Owens did a nice job righting the ship but don't you think
Nortel - and the board in which he served on for two years
before being parachuted as CEO - is being a tad too
generous? Then again, Nortel's board believes Owens helped save the
company when he stepped in as CEO in April 2004 after Dunn was fired
for “cause”. (What's going on with the legal action between Nortel and
Dunn, anyway?) When Zafirovski was hired in October, Nortel chairman  Harry Pearce
was over-the-top in his praise for Owens, although I suspect it had to
do with the fact Nortel likely pushed Owens out of his dream job so it
could bring on Zafirovski. Still, it's not like Owens has anything to
complain about. We should all be so lucky to hit the jackpot just
before retirement beckons.