Nortel sure likes to lavish its CEOs financially. During the telecom boom, it created a sweet options package that let John Roth walk away with $135-million in 2000. The board approved a bonus program that convinced Frank Dunn he was going to have enough moo-lah to build a $10-million McMansion by Lake Ontario. (Mind you, Dunn allegedly tried to cook the books to achieve the bonus). Most recently, Nortel said it was willing to pay millions of dollars to Motorola so it wouldn't make it difficult for Mike Zafirovski to become president and CEO. The latest example of corporate largesse is the going away package for Bill Owens. In additional to a $1-million a year pension, Nortel is make retirement easy for the ex-U.S. Admiral by giving him  a $2-million lump-sum severance package and a second lump sum worth as much as $3.4-million, and accelerating the vesting for all of his 2.9 million stock options. Owens did a nice job righting the ship but don't you think Nortel - and the board in which he served on for two years before being parachuted as CEO - is being a tad too generous? Then again, Nortel's board believes Owens helped save the company when he stepped in as CEO in April 2004 after Dunn was fired for "cause". (What's going on with the legal action between Nortel and Dunn, anyway?) When Zafirovski was hired in October, Nortel chairman  Harry Pearce was over-the-top in his praise for Owens, although I suspect it had to do with the fact Nortel likely pushed Owens out of his dream job so it could bring on Zafirovski. Still, it's not like Owens has anything to complain about. We should all be so lucky to hit the jackpot just before retirement beckons.