TORONTO, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- John Chen, chairman and interim chief executive officer of Canadian firm BlackBerry will be paid a $6 million bonus if he gets fired, a regulatory filing said.
In documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the struggling smartphone maker said it would pay Chen, a former CEO of Sybase, his salary for the remainder of the year if he gets fired, plus a $6 million payout plus benefits for 18 months, the Economic Times reported Monday.
If his performance is satisfactory -- that is to say, if he turns the struggling telecommunications equipment company around -- Chen will be paid a $1 million salary, $2 million in bonus pay and restricted shares worth, at today's stock prices, $85 million -- although he could not cash that in for five years.
The company has been struggling to regain market share it lost to Apple and other phone makers.
This year, BlackBerry announced it would try to sell itself, but that effort did not pan out. A week ago, the company fired CEO Thorsten Heins and replaced him with Chen.
The company also said it had decided not to seek a buyer.
