ST. LOUIS _ Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant, a very rich man, could be about $77 million richer if he manages to sell Monsanto to Bayer AG for $66 billion.
He holds a golden parachute contract that would net him about $29 million should he leave after the takeover, according to a Post-Dispatch estimate. Neither Grant nor Bayer has said whether he would have a role in the post-takeover company.
The $128-a-share buyout price is a 43 percent premium over Monsanto's $89 per share value in mid-March, before Bayer's interest became public. That premium would lift the value of Grant's own Monsanto stock, outside the golden parachute deal, by about $48 million. His total gain could hit the $77 million range.
The golden parachute calculations are derived from estimates of possible severance payouts in Monsanto's proxy issued last December, adjusted for the buyout share price. The proxy said that Grant held, directly or indirectly, 1.5 million shares and exercisable stock options as of last fall. The estimate doesn't account for shares he may have bought or sold or been granted since then.
Grant might suffer some losses, too, if he leaves the company. He gets to take personal flights on the corporate jet, a perquisite valued at $243,000 last year. He would also leave behind compensation that totaled $11.9 million last year.
Buyout deals often contain special financial arrangements for top executives of the acquired company. Those provisions, if any, have not yet been revealed.
The buyout would be a bonanza for other top Monsanto bosses. Chief Financial Officer Pierre C. Courduroux's golden parachute would be worth $6.5 million should he leave the firm after the deal closes. Brett Begemann, chief operating officer, could walk away with $10.3 million. Both men also own large amounts of Monsanto stock.
