A final severance package of $58 million was received by Yahoo's recently fired chief operating officer after only working at the internet company for 15 months, UK MailOnline reported.
The disclosure in a new regulatory filing released on Wednesday may lead to more second-guessing of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's decision to hire Henrique de Castro as her second-in-command in October 2012, the Associated Press reported.
The eight-figure payout that was given to de Castro by his former boss, Mayer, will most probably be reviewed as she both hired and fired him in the span of a year for not following her plans in reviving Yahoo's lackluster ad growth while being in charge of ad sales.
"Ultimately, Henrique was not a fit and that's a very regrettable conclusion," Mayer told analysts in late January. "And it's a conclusion that we tried very hard to avoid, but it was the right decision in the end for the company."
The next chief operating officer will not be picked by Mayer, she said.
Although the company had disclosed that a severance package would be given to Castro, the amount was not revealed until Wednesday. According to the AP, a majority of severance covers the costs of trying to lure de Castro from his previous job at Google Inc., the company said.
"The board believed at the time Mr. de Castro was hired that he had a unique set of highly valuable skills and experiences that would be key to returning the company to long-term growth and success," Yahoo's compensation committee said in its defense of de Castro's severance pay.
More than double the amount was paid to de Castro in the form of severance than the company paid to Mayer last year, UK MailOnline reported.
Valued at $24.9 million, Mayer's compensation dropped down to a 32 percent from the previous year.
