Ousted Groupon CEO Andrew Mason Gets $378 Severance Package

In a world of multimillion-dollar golden parachutes for big-time executives, Groupon's (GRPN) ex-CEO Andrew Mason will have to make do with a few hundred bucks.

In the wake of the Groupon founder's ouster, CNNMoney looked back at the company's IPO documentation and found that in the event of Mason's departure, he would receive his usual salary for six months. That sounds like a sweet deal until you consider that his annual salary was only $756.72, according to the most recent regulatory documents.

Like many CEOs, Mason was only taking a token salary (Steve Jobs, for example, only took $1 as CEO of Apple). That means he'll only get $378.36 in severance pay, though he will remain on the company's health insurance plan for 180 days.

So what can Mason afford to buy with that severance package? Since he mentioned in his departure letter that he's planning on going to fat camp to lose his "Groupon 40," he might want to look into one of the many yoga and fitness classes currently offered on Groupon right now. (Or he could splurge and spend it on teeth whitening, another Groupon staple.)

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Of course, Mason is leaving the company with more than just a few hundred bucks in his pocket. While his severance is paltry, CNNMoney notes that he wisely cashed out a bunch of Groupon stock before the IPO, netting him around $28 million. And he still owns 47 million shares of Groupon stock, which were worth about $213 million at the close of trading on Thursday.

And, better still for Mason, Groupon stock soared in value after news of his firing was released, meaning that his shares are suddenly worth a lot more. As of midday Friday, the stock price was up around 9%, so by our calculations he's now about $20 million richer as a result of investors' enthusiasm over his being unemployed.

Sounds like he wound up getting his golden parachute after all.

Matt Brownell is the consumer and retail reporter for DailyFinance. You can reach him at Matt.Brownell@teamaol.com, and follow him on Twitter at @Brownellorama.

Photo Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images