It can't be satisfying to be in their position right now, its like blood money and whose to say someone won't go after them? Do these people hire security guards?
He must have known what he was getting into, and whoever hired him (would that be the Board?) must have known how bad off the company was, to lure him in with those amounts. With the company failed, how could that money be there to pay him the severence?
I don't have time to dig for the info, but would be interested to know what his previous positions/employers were.