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Charman’s severance upped to $36m

Former Axis CEO John Charman

Bermuda-based reinsurer Axis Capital has agreed to pay its former CEO John Charman another $13.8 million — taking his total severance package to just under $36 million.According to an SEC filing made on Monday, Axis has paid Mr Charman a lump sum of $13,846,268 in lieu of annual retirement payments that he was entitled to.Mr Charman, the company’s founder and former director, had a previous agreement that he would be paid a sum of $19,129,945.39 over the course of the next 16 years. Instead, the company decided to pay him out up front.Mr Charman who stepped down as the company’s CEO on May 3 to assume the role of chairman of the board, was later ousted on June 25 when the board voted to remove him from the position.Replacing him is Michael Butt who served successfully as Axis chairman from September 2002 to May 2012 and who came out of retirement to take Mr Charman’s place. Former PartnerRe CFO Albert Benchimol is now the company’s CEO while Mr Charman remains on the board of directors.Mr Charman received an $11 million cash payout as part of the termination deal which stemmed from a dispute over what his role as chairman entailed. A June 25 SEC filing also revealed Mr Charman would receive an additional $11 million of share-based compensation costs during the second quarter of this year.Mr Charman set up Axis in Bermuda in the weeks following the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001 — after raising around $1.7 billion in capital from investors. He was CEO of the company for nearly 11 years before he retired in May.His personal holding in the company, according to Yahoo Finance, is around 2.36 million shares, worth more than $78.8 million at yesterday’s closing price. Axis shares were up 11 cents, or nearly 0.33 percent in New York trading yesterday closing at $33.38.