Sacked Lucent bosses get £15m payoff

Two former senior executives at troubled telecoms equipment maker Lucent, which will lay off at least 45,000 workers this year, will receive combined pay-offs totalling more than £15m.

Richard McGinn, ousted as chairman last year after three years in the job, will receive a package worth a whopping £11.8m, in addition to the £700,000 per annum pension he qualifies for.

Lucent has given McGinn a £3.9m pay-off, has taken over bank loans of £3m and paid him £4.9m for his remaining share options.

Deborah Hopkins, who was Lucent's chief financial officer for 13 months before being axed in May, gets a £2.3m pay-off and another £1m for her share options. Hopkins also collected a £2.8m signing bonus after joining from aircraft maker Boeing.

Both former executives also agreed to non-compete clauses of varying lengths: McGinn for 18 months, backdated to 22 October 2000, and Hopkins for six months.

Lucent officials said the company was focused on its restructuring efforts, which were launched in January. A spokeswoman said: "This chapter is closed. We're moving ahead with the business of turning the company around."

Lucent lost £2.29bn ($3.25bn) on revenues of £4.1bn ($5.82bn) for the three months to the end of June.