The CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were refused the generous golden parachutes [1] they'd been counting on when their respective enterprises were taken over by federal regulators, and most recently the replaced CEO of American International Group (AIG) voluntarily abandoned his $22 million [2] severance package.

Robert Willumstad served as CEO to insurance giant AIG and could have taken his $22 million into a slightly early retirement at the age of 63, but he stated, "I prefer not to receive severance payments while shareholders and employees have lost considerable value in their AIG shares." What would you do in his position — would you walk away from this kind of package or take the money and move on?

Source [3]