Too Much?

Things should be hopping this Wednesday at the annual meeting of the medical products giant McKesson. Activist shareholders will be trying to water down the severance package that’s awaiting company CEO John Hammergren.
If McKesson changes hands in a buyout, turns out, Hammergren currently stands to walk away with $292 million in severance. Hammergren is also sitting on a rather hefty stash of McKesson stock and options already awarded to him. He’ll exit McKesson, Businessweek notes, with a total windfall of $616.6 million.
McKesson’s board of directors is, of course, opposing any move to downsize Hammergren’s exit package. Generous rewards, the company informs us, remain “an important tool for motivating our executives.”