CEO gets cool $44M severance package for one day of work

How much severance would you expect after one day on the job? Not a lot, right? Well, the now ex-CEO of Duke Energy Corp., Bill Johnson, is getting up to a cool $44.4 million for his one day at the helm. Johnson had previously been CEO of another energy company that merged with Duke and signed a contract to be Duke's chief officer when the merger took effect. That was July 2. Suddenly, on July 3, he resigned (though rumors speculate it was more of a firing). Either way, Johnson stands to collect $7.4 million in severance, a $1.4 million bonus and some hefty stock awards to round out the rest. A quick look at the calculator shows that's an hourly rate of $5.5 million. Not bad for a day's work.