What to make of the Wachovia golden parachute news?

There's been a lot of talk, over the years, about executive employment contracts and how they affect executive performance. As contracts evolved they came to be seen as a way for executives to get paid no matter what kind of a job they did. Thanks to their contracts, Wachovia's top 10 executives will be eligible for a total of nearly $100 million in severance pay. However, CEO Bob Steel did not have a contract.

To some, this seems like a case of executives getting golden parachutes after running their company into the ground. Wachovia has lost a stunning $33 billion in the last two quarters. That's certainly in the spirit of Sarbanes-Oxley. Some have proposed that we do away with executive employment contracts. What do you think?

For more:
- here's some background from CNNMoney.com

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New era dawning in exec compensation