Back in July, Kyphon (ticker:KYPH), a Sunnyvale maker of devices used to repair spines, announced it had agreed to be bought for $3.9 billion sale to rival Medtronic of Minneapolis. The deal arose over a nasty legal dispute between the two companies.

But there’s nothing like a big, fat deal to turns swords back into plowshares. And nobody may have bigger grins than the execs at Kyphon who are now in line for a big windfall if the deal goes through.

In a proxy filed Friday in connection with the merger, Kyphon included a table that disclosed how much executives can expect to receive for their options and restricted stock units. All told, 15 insiders will get a total of $144.1 million.

The big winners include:

  • Richard Mott, CEO and president: $53,548,730
  • Karen D. Talmadge, Executive Vice President, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer: $31,039,969
  • Jack W. Lasersohn: $14,493,065
  • David M. Shaw: $13,344,825
  • Arthur T. Taylor, Vice President, Chief Operating Officer: $7,737,113
  • James T. Treace, Chairman: $7,233,954
  • Bradley W. Paddock, Vice President, US Sales: $4,833,433
  • Robert A. Vandervelde, President, International: $4,219,368

And if, heaven forbid, any of these poor souls gets fired, there is additional severance awaiting them, not to mention their annual bonuses.

Bay Area News Group blog editor (1223 Posts)