Fiorina gets $21m HP golden handshake

Ousted HP CEO Carly Fiorina is set to walk away from the company with a cool $21m golden handshake, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Out of that severance package $14m will be paid in a base salary related cash settlement plus a further $7.38m in performance bonuses.

On top of that Fiorina receive another $50,000 for financial advice and legal services, one year's home security protection, six months of administrative support and use of her company PC and laptop and technical support for three months.

Fiorina left HP last week after a disagreement with the board over the direction of the company. Fiorina has been criticised over her leadership of the post-Compaq-merger company and the market delivered its verdict with HP stock rising 10 per cent immediately after the news of her exit.

silicon.com readers have backed HP's decision to get rid of Fiorina. Almost half (48 per cent) of our readers polled last week said they thought Fiorina's exit would be good for HP. Only 17 per cent said it wouldn't, followed by 16 per cent who didn't know. Another 19 per cent simply said they "don't care".

HP is due to report its first-quarter results this Wednesday, 16 February.