Leo Hindery's big payday is looking pretty small right now. The ex-AT&T Broadband president completed his stint at telcom startup Global Crossing last week, exiting after the completion of the sale of its Global Center Web-hosting unit to Exodus Communications. If you remember, Hindery was squeezed out in October after being just the most recent president of Global Crossing to clash with Chairman Gary Winnick.
Still, Hindery was looking pretty good. His deal with Winnick was tied to the value of Global Center. He would get 5.5% of the increase in the unit's value above $1.8 billion. The September deal with Exodus valued Hindery's interest at $258 million. Unfortunately, the sale is a stock swap, and Exodus shares have dropped sharply since September. So, when it closed last week, the Global Center deal's value had dropped to $1.8 billion. Oops, didn't clear the hurdle. Don't worry too much. Hindery and his management team got options in Exodus that are exercisable for another year. So if Exodus stock stays above $15 per share, Hindery still makes money. And don't forget the $500 million or so he collected from AT&T.
So what's his future? After banking on a role in an Al Gore administration, Hindery's still looking for political opportunities. But he's still entertaining another CEO job, considering joining an investment group studying a takeover of the troubled Xerox.
