Departed Auburn University president Dr. Steven Leath will receive $4.5 million over a period of three years, according to documents outlining the separation agreement obtained by the Opelika-Auburn News, according to an Associated Press report in the Des Moines Register.
Dr. Steven LeathThe deal means the university will pay Leath more than double the $625,000 annual salary he would have earned if he remained Auburn’s president.
Auburn announced in June that its board of trustees and Leath, the school’s president since 2017, had mutually agreed that he should resign.
The separation agreement covers the final three years remaining on Leath’s contract.
The documents show Leath was awarded $1.5 million July 1. Auburn will pay him the same sum in a year, and a final $1.5 million installment July 1, 2021.
Terms of the agreement forbid Leath from disparaging the university and from disclosing any information it considers confidential.
