Fritz Henderson, the GM CEO fired by a government-appointed board of directors last December, has been paid $59,090 a month for the last six months to consult the company five hours per week.
Henderson, a GM veteran, stepped into the CEO role in March 2008 after President Barack Obama defenestrated Rick Wagoner as a condition of saving GM from collapse with $50 billion in public money. Henderson oversaw GM through its bankruptcy, but clashed with the board, made several controversial calls and was eventually ousted by chairman Ed Whitacre, who later took the job himself before the board ousted him this year in favor of current CEO Dan Akerson.
Last February, GM said it was hiring Henderson as a consultant to its international operations, and would pay him $59,090 per month. At the time, a GM spokesman said the payment was not a severance for Henderson's term as CEO, and that Fritz had "unrivaled expertise."
According to documents filed with the SEC, this work constituted roughly 20 hours per month for a payment of nearly $60K per month, or $2,975 per hour.
When Sunoco hired Henderson to run its SunCoke Energy unit, GM ended Henderson's contract. For seven months of work, which would be 140 hours by their estimate, he was paid an estimated $413,060 dollars.
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