HP's new CEO will do quite well if the company improves, but the only thing she is guaranteed is $1.
Actually, if she's fired before the end of next year, she'll take home $1.50, since her severance is 1.5 times her annual salary.
A self-made billionaire thanks to her years running eBay, Whitman doesn't need the money. But she could add to her stockpile if she can steer HP in the right direction: Her cash bonus target is $2.4 million, with the possibility of as much as $6 million.
Whitman also has an option to spend up to $45 million buying discounted HP stock, but her options only become valuable if she stays on the job for several years and HP's stock price rises during that period.
You don't have to work at Oracle or Apple to be among the top-paid executives in the technology industry, but it helps.
