Yahoo! Chief Executive Officer Marissa Mayer will have a lot to gain if she leaves the company after its $4.8 billion acquisition by Verizon is complete: $54.89 million, as of the end of the last fiscal year. Not bad for a CEO who spent four years trying unsuccessfully to pull off a turnaround. Yet Mayer’s golden parachute—a compensation package for top executives who are terminated after a merger or acquisition—ranks just 54th among potential payouts for the 468 S&P 500 CEOs who have detailed change-in-control agreements in their proxies. Here are the 20 biggest golden parachutes, plus details on how the payouts are structured.
Correction, Aug. 17: A previous version of this graphic incorrectly reported that Mylan CEO Heather Bresch would receive $87.8 million if she left the company after a merger or acquisition. The actual amount is $61.5 million, meaning she is not among the top 20. The graphic has been changed to reflect the correct ranking.