Ex-HP chief gets $13.2 million parachute

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Leo Apotheker, who was ousted last week after the company’s stock lost nearly half its value during his 11-month tenure, is leaving with $13.2 million in cash and stock.

Newly appointed CEO Meg Whitman will join Silicon Valley’s $1-a-year club, following the lead of Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison and Apple Inc. Chairman Steve Jobs, among others, although HP reported Thursday that Whitman will be eligible for stock options and an annual bonus of up to $6 million.

Apotheker, whose base salary was $1.2 million, will leave HP with $7.2 million in a cash severance payment, $2.4 million under a company bonus program known as “Pay for Results” and accelerated vesting of stock options worth $3.6 million, according to a filing that HP made with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Whitman, who is already a billionaire on the basis of stock and other earnings from her previous job as CEO of eBay, will be paid a base salary of $1 a year. HP said her target annual bonus for 2012 is $2.4 million, but she could earn up to 2.5 times that amount if the company does well.

She also will receive options to buy 1.9 million shares in company stock over the next two years. Most of the options will be vested only if HP’s stock value improves by 20 percent in the first year and an additional 20 percent in the second year.