Get paid $18 million for three weeks of work

Truthfully, I don't think you or I are going to come upon an opportunity like this in the near future. But it's nice to know that in the land of opportunity, anything is possible. Even if it involves earning $18 million for a mere 3 weeks of work.

Alan Fishman has been the CEO of Washington Mutual for less than three weeks. And now that JPMorgan Chase has taken over the failed bank, he's likely to be out of a job. Lucky for him, his employment agreement calls for millions in severance pay if he's let go. How's that for a going away gift?

Fishman started running WaMu on September 7 after the company got rid of the prior CEO, Kerry Killinger. He's got a base salary of $1 million, plus a target annual bonus of $3.65 million, and a long-term incentive award of at least $8 million. Let's not forget about the $7.5 million signing bonus Fishman got for taking the position to start with.