back to article Elop's enlarged package claim was a cock-up, admits Nokia chairman

Nokia's chairman has admitted he was wrong to say that CEO Stephen Elop's €18.8m (£15.6m) payoff was all very regular and run of the mill. As the Finnish giant came under political pressure for promising its outgoing chief exec the whopping windfall, chairman Risto Siilasmaa incorrectly told the press last week that Elop's …

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  1. Piro Silver badge

    I'm getting divorced so I need 18.8 million Euros

    Yes, rich bastards, this is exactly the sort of attitude that makes people hate you.

    Because not only do some of you not deserve it (Elop doesn't deserve a penny), but clearly he's acting like a spoilt child.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Re: I'm getting divorced so I need 18.8 million Euros

      Or, her lawyers will tear him to shreds if he voluntarily accepts less, because it affects what she'll get.

      1. asdf

        Re: I'm getting divorced so I need 18.8 million Euros

        Yet more proof Nokia's problems had a lot more to do with a incompetent Finnish board than an American trojan horse.

  2. James 51

    So, how many "Mission accomplished Agent Elop, welcome home." comments there will be?

    Still trying to find the equal of my N900.

    1. Mage Silver badge

      N900?

      Digit missing

      I want the modern 3G & 4G + WiFi equivalent of my N9210i

      Without OS provider Spyware please.

      (given back to employer in 2004)

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_9210_Communicator

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: N900?

        Still got mine.

        They did do newer models, but they moved to series 60 to reduce the number of platforms. As a result there was less buttons.

        The 9210 was short of RAM or it would have been much better.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The Most Successful Mobile Phone Trojan

    Trojan.Stephen.Elop.W32

  4. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Go

    I wonder what he threatened to do to get that money.

    Maybe he threatened to stay in Finland.

    Perhaps someone in Nokia read the Art of War which mentioned building your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across. And if Microsoft were paying 70% of the bridge, why not?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I wonder what he threatened to do to get that money.

      Stay in Finland? He never moved to Finland; he stayed where he was. Even more proof that he had other plans for Nokia.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: I wonder what he threatened to do to get that money.

        Yes, he never moved his family to Finland. Might explain his divorce, and perhaps something else too, but I suppose he was running down Nokia from Finland.

  5. Eguro

    Elop seems to have been taking his queues from the banking executives - even when you fail to do your job in a massive way, you get paid idiotic amounts of money.

  6. frank ly

    Elop apparently negotiated a more lucrative golden goodbye

    How on earth do you negotiate a goodbye payment? Unless you threaten to tell secrets or break legs? I'd really like to know because it might be useful to me in the future.

    1. Don Jefe

      Re: Elop apparently negotiated a more lucrative golden goodbye

      Generally you leverage either vested options or your influence on major shareholders. In this case, since MS is paying the bulk of it, this is his cut of the difference in Nokia market valuation pre and post Elop.

    2. Tom 35

      Re: Elop apparently negotiated a more lucrative golden goodbye

      Give me a bag of money and I'll see about getting you on the board. They can use honey as well as threats. Plus if it can be called Normal then when it's your turn to go then you can ask for a Normal package too.

  7. Khaptain Silver badge

    Finbar Saunders must have written that title

    See title ( Literally)

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hard to believe

    this wasn't Elop's plan from day one.

  9. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    Finland's press has really got its teeth into this:

    http://www.wtfinland.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/nokia-stephen-elop-sells-phone-division.jpg

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I love it when a plan comes together....

    Fear not....

    Elop will return to Redmond in time to replace Balmer, he will promptly announce that Windows is a 'burning platform' or maybe a 'melting iceberg' (just for a change), proclaim the future of Windows is Linux and promptly sell off the Microsoft OS business to Canonical, leaving MS as the worlds least exciting smartphone manufacturer and destroyer of Skype, Shuttleworth will then proclaim the future is Unity TILES (tm) for Ubuntu-Windows (tm) and we'll all live happily ever after..... don't tell me you didn't foresee this master plan years ago....

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I love it when a plan comes together....

      And it annoys me too that there is no "Joke Alert" for anon. As far as I am concerned Skype should go anyway, I am sure there are other alternatives to day, at least internet ones without the land line stuff. I owe you (all of you) a beer if Elop replaces Balmer, A good reason to be anonymous, most likely, without reason. Am I suddenly a good person. Many questions and all the answers soon, and what the fuck.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That man deserves all that money...

    if only for all the internet hat0rs.

    But in reality he deserves it because he sold a loss-making business to Microsoft for good money. Try reading the Annual Accounts from Nokia at http://www.nokia.com/global/about-nokia/investors/financials/reports/results---reports/, choice list at the bottom, and in particular the bit about Nokia's top ten key markets.

    In particular, notice how revenue collapses starting in 2008 for Western European markets.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Thats nothing, Jake got a much better deal when he was CEO of Nokia!

  13. Johan Bastiaansen
    Angel

    Social harmony

    That's when the majority of the people don't think their boss is a crook.

  14. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Holmes

    The corruption is strong in this one.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ultimately it was Nokia's fault for hiring him, how desperate must they have been?

    1. Don Jefe

      I honestly believe they were fooled, not desperate. They honestly believed they were bringing in someone with global market experience to drive transition from 'candy bar' feature phones to, then still new, smartphones.

      You've got to give Nokia credit for sticking with their chosen captain and his decisions. I think that is a positive trait in a company. What isn't positive is that they let the same captain keep running aground while steering directly for the rocks. All the while there were clear courses within site. He should have been relieved of duty when he first ran aground, not allowed to just keep holing the ship. Barring action from above there should have been a mutiny and sea trial. Unless it is just a weird Finnish cultural thing, I really, really don't understand why they didn't get rid of him a long time ago.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "I honestly believe they were fooled, not desperate. They honestly believed they were bringing in someone with global market experience to drive transition from 'candy bar' feature phones to, then still new, smartphones."

        You must be joking, or a Yank. Pre-Elop, Nokia held 80% of the smartphone market share, and 40% overall. It didn't take Elop to bring smartphone smarts to Nokia -- it took Elop to all but destroy said smartphone business.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    18.8 Million Euros for what ?

    I guess for putting the final nail in a once glorious company, because he couldn't see that Android was the way to go.

    I guess M$ probably got him sent in as the hatchet man, so they could get the best bits of Nokia on the cheap.

    If only they'd gone for Android, instead of Mobile-Windoze they'd have had a chance, but then for that to happen they'd have needed a CEO who wasn't a M$ patsy.

    Nokia still make good hardware, it is just the flipping OS that is a problem, and now M$ has its greasy mitts on it that is very unlikely to change, and so me and lots of others are very unlikely ever to buy one again.

    1. Eguro

      Re: 18.8 Million Euros for what ?

      Never say never

      Nokia retains patents. I'm fairly sure they might have tied their brand to the deal for a few years, but when that's over nothing is stopping them getting back into the mobile game.

      As have been proposed elsewhere, they might even have a little Jolla in their future.

      Well one can dream...

    2. Lars Silver badge
      Flame

      Re: 18.8 Million Euros for what ?

      Elop made Nokia a burning platform. Nokia could have continued to develop MeeGo, a good phone, they could have done more marketing for it. They could have continued developing Asha. They could have kept QT. And most of all they could have told the world that they will also invest in WinPhone, that could have sounded good and brave for many. Instead Elop put fire on the platform expecting the MS fire department to come to the rescue quickly. it took them a year at least. Now, Nokia fell a sleep before Elop entered. But Elop was hired to make a change, take Nokia back on track. Was Elop dedicated to do that. Keeping his family in Canada does not much support it. Did he, as a Microsoft person, actually believe the name "Microsoft" would be irresistible. What qualifications did he have with producing cell phones except that belief in Microsoft (and Nokia). And then there is that other theory. And yes he was selected by the Nokia board, not many left, perhaps that is as well too.

    3. Piro Silver badge

      Re: 18.8 Million Euros for what ?

      Android is one option, but I like to think Nokia could have really made something of Maemo, I remember really wanting an N900.

      The N9 was pretty nifty, too.

      Jolla seems to be taking that path in some way.

      Nokia could have done that, too, and had Android application support.

      That way, they get to keep their in-house developed software, everyone's happy, Android apps are available from the get go, and nobody has to listen to what Microsoft says.

      But, that's not how it turned out, eh.

  17. dan1980

    Personally, I always assume carelessness over conspiracy and stupidity & ineptitude over maliciousness. That said, it is amusing to run through the possible scenarios in your head!

  18. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    With the constant TV criticism on Finnish TV...

    ...over the last few days, I'm wondering if it's Finns Revenge.

    Make Elop so toxic, that even Microsoft may think twice...

    After all, why did YLE (Finnish 'BBC') bring up he divorce, except to spit more venom at this "trojan"?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: With the constant TV criticism on Finnish TV...

      "After all, why did YLE (Finnish 'BBC') bring up he divorce, except to spit more venom at this "trojan"?"

      Elop himself gave it as a reason. He claimed he would have to negotiate with his wife any decrease of the windfall as 50% could have belonged to her anyway (depending on where the divorce will be filed).

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