Ken DeGiorgio, the former CEO of First American Financial Corp. who was fired earlier this month, is set to receive a pay package of $18,571,852, according to a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The payout includes $7.24 million in severance pay, as well as about $9.1 million in accelerated vesting of restricted stock and around $2.2 million in supplemental executive retirement plan funds.
DeGiorgio was fired by First American following an incident aboard a Caribbean cruise ship in which he allegedly choked a man who had argued with DeGiorgio’s wife. DeGiorgio was arrested by the FBI and charged with assault.
The former CEO of the title insurance giant is eligible to receive the severance payout because his employment was terminated “without cause.”
“For cause” terminations of chief executives are uncommon in corporate America. According to legal experts, the standards of proving cause are often stringent, and publicly traded companies typically wish to avoid a protracted legal battle that unfolds in the public eye.
According to the SEC filing, DeGiorgio’s severance payout represents “two times the executive officer’s base salary in effect immediately prior to the date of termination and two times the median of the executive officer’s last three annual incentive bonuses.”
