How's this for severance pay: $100-million. That's what Allergan CEO David Pyott could potentially bag if he's cut loose after his company is acquired by Actavis, according to Bloomberg.
In a December statement, Actavis made no mention of what role Mr. Pyott may play in the company once the deal is complete, but did say it plans to let go most of Allergan's executives.
Any payout could include about $89-million (U.S.) in cash and stock for unvested equity awards, and a further $12-million in cash, pension and health-care benefits, according to a Feb. 19 filing from Allergan.
The package is typical of the platinum parachutes seen in the upper echelons of the business world, according to Erik Gordon of the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.
"It might seem like an outlandish sum to the public eye, but in CEO-land, it's a fairly standard arrangement."
Rooms are comfy, but is the WiFi free?
Startups may hold a lot of promise, but there's a lot to be said for staying power. Fifty years is about the average lifespan of a company, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, but there's a number of outliers that measure theirs in centuries.
And as Business Insider reports, there's a handful of industries that are more likely to stand the test of time. If you're thinking of starting something that'll run for the long haul – that's the really long haul – then your best bet is to look for things people tend to do regularly over the centuries: eat, drink and sleep.
The top honour in the ye olde business category goes to a Japanese hotel operating since 705, with honourable mentions going to a restaurant in Austria serving meals since 803 and a Irish pub pulling the taps since about 900.
Other notables include London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry, established in 1570 and still satisfying the world's voracious appetite for bells, and a North American company founded exactly a century later that catered to the European mania for beaver felt hats.
A supreme victory for 'non-dentists'
The U.S. Supreme Court smiled on North Carolina's discount teeth-whiteners this week but in the process elicited only frowns from the state's dentists.
The spat between the two groups dates as far back as 2006, when a state regulatory board warned teeth-whitening services offered at mall kiosks and tanning salons were in effect practising dentistry without a licence.
(The tanning salons would appear to have an unfair advantage, too, with their ability to offer up a double-double of lighter teeth and darker skin.)
In the court's 6-3 decision on Wednesday, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the board, which was mostly composed of dentists, violated U.S. federal law against unfair competition by trying to squeeze out lower-cost competitors in other fields.
The board's 2006 warnings to rivals had their intended results, Justice Kennedy wrote: "Non-dentists ceased offering teeth-whitening services in North Carolina."
Argentina shows the 'sovereign love'
It must be a welcome distraction for the Argentine government, with its crumbling economy, rampant inflation and accusations of serious cover-ups involving a bombing and a possible murder.
Next month sees the introduction of a new 50-peso banknote celebrating the country's claim to the Malvinas, better known as Britain's Falkland Islands. The launch is accompanied by the slogan: "Malvinas Islands. A sovereign love," South Atlantic news agency MercoPress reports.
The news hasn't gone unnoticed by Brits living on the Falklands, with one tweeting on Monday: "Surprised they can afford a colour printer," and another: "How very flattering that they choose to display another country on their banknotes!" Even some Argentines joined in with the ridicule, reports London's Daily Telegraph. "A 50-peso note is now in circulation to honour the Falklands," comedian Cristian Dominguez wrote. "Now we need one for 500 pesos in honour of inflation."
Buffett reveals his chronic Coke habit
Investors wishing to emulate the success of the Oracle of Omaha often wonder what his secret must be. Maybe they should pay close attention to his diet.
Warren Buffett revealed on Wednesday that he chugs five 355-millilitre cans of Coke a day, every day. "I'm one quarter Coca-Cola," he told Fortune.
He starts each day out with a Coke and UTZ-brand potato sticks, made by a Hanover, Penn., company he says he's made overtures to in the past. But he also likes to shake it up a bit at breakfast. "This morning, I had a bowl of chocolate chip ice cream."
Don't assume he's being foolish about his health with all those sugary and salty foods. Just as with any investment he's considering, he's thought it all through.
"I checked the actuarial tables, and the lowest death rate is among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a six-year-old. It's the safest course I can take."