Yahoo’s ousted COO Henrique De Castro walks with $58M

Being handed a pink slip with a nine-figure severance isn’t bad for just 15 months of work.

Dara Kerr Former senior reporter

Dara Kerr was a senior reporter for CNET covering the on-demand economy and tech culture. She grew up in Colorado, went to school in New York City and can never remember how to pronounce gif.

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Dara Kerr

April 16, 2014 7:22 p.m. PT

After speculation that Yahoo's ousted chief operating officer Henrique De Castro walked away with a millions-of-dollars wad of cash, the truth is finally out thanks to a SEC filing.

Confirming all rumors, De Castro left the company with a $57.96 million severance, according to the filing (PDF), which was made public on Wednesday. The filing breaks down the million-dollar figure into cash, restricted stock units that grow over time, stock options, and "make-whole" compensation payments.

The company writes that De Castro's "make-whole" figure was high -- the numbers went from $12.12 million at hire to $31.18 million at employment termination -- because Yahoo has seen an increase in share prices.

"The major component of Mr. de Castro's severance benefits," the filing says, "involved the acceleration of his make-whole arrangement, the value of which increased substantially following the date of his hire as a result of the significant appreciation in our stock price."

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer handed De Castro a pink slip in January after just 15 months of work. His departure was long-rumored, with reports that he was a polarizing figure and "="" with="" mayer"="" shortcode="link" asset-type="article" uuid="d0352196-8533-11e3-bc97-14feb5ca9861" slug="yahoo-coo-to-depart-company-according-to-filing" link-text="" section="news" title="Yahoo COO to depart company, according to filing" edition="us" data-key="link_bulk_key" api="{"id":"d0352196-8533-11e3-bc97-14feb5ca9861","slug":"yahoo-coo-to-depart-company-according-to-filing","contentType":null,"edition":"us","topic":{"slug":"tech-industry"},"metaData":{"typeTitle":null,"hubTopicPathString":"Tech Industry","reviewType":null},"section":"news"}"> .

"I made the difficult decision that our COO, Henrique de Castro, should leave the company," she wrote in an explanatory memo to her staff in January. "I appreciate Henrique's contributions and wish him the best in his future endeavors."

(Via TechCrunch).