I’ve been thinking for awhile that I need a new career. Even as an aspiring rock star, it may be time to give that up if only I could become a CEO. You see, for awhile I have been thinking that my ideal situation would be to work somewhere and to do such a terrible job that the people pay me an enormous amount of money … TO LEAVE. This happens all the time. Here in Boston – dude managing the Big Dig project screws it up so badly that they buy out his contract for a few hundred thousand dollars. And then the other day we had this in the NY Times:

 

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: October 30, 2007

E. Stanley O’Neal, the embattled chairman and chief executive of Merrill Lynch,
retired today from the brokerage firm, capping a tumultuous 10 days that
included a significant quarterly loss and write-down. ….

Mr. O’Neal is expected to receive at least $159 million in severance and
retirement. He is entitled to $30 million in retirement benefits as well as $129
million in stock and option holdings, according to an analysis by James F. Reda
& Associates using yesterday’s share price of $66.09. That would be on top of
the roughly $160 million he took home in his nearly five years on the job.

So what I’m trying to say is this – will somebody please pay me millions of dollars to go away. Please! I’ll go anywhere, I’ll get out of your sight, I’ll stay away from you forever. Hook a rock star up!

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