Killinger got $25M in WaMu's final year

Kerry Killinger took home $25.1 million in 2008 — the year he was fired as Washington Mutual's chief executive and the company itself effectively ceased to exist.

Killinger, who had been CEO since 1990, received a $15.3 million severance payment after he was let go in September 2008, as well as a $445,200 lump-sum payment for vacation benefits and a $300,669 "special payment," not further identified.

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations unearthed Killinger's 2008 compensation during its 18-month-long investigation into the financial crisis.

The status of his golden parachute previously had not been disclosed. Regulators seized WaMu's banking business just 18 days after Killinger was replaced in September 2008 and sold it to JPMorgan Chase; neither Chase nor WaMu's bankrupt now-holding company has previously said whether the severance was paid.

In addition to the golden parachute, Killinger in 2008 received the prorated portion of his $1 million annual salary; more than $6.8 million in lump-sum pension benefits; $2.6 million in deferred compensation from previous years; and stock awards valued at $1.7 million (though the actual value is likely now near zero, assuming Killinger held onto the stock).

From 2003 — when the subcommittee says WaMu began its disastrous push into high-risk lending — to 2008, Killinger received a total of $103.2 million in cash, stock and options.

Drew DeSilver: 206-464-3145 or ddesilver@seattletimes.com