We Have a New Winner

4:15 PM -- One big name missing from our recent list of top executive payouts was Pat Martin, former CEO of Storage Technology Corp. (StorageTek) , who left the company when it was snapped up by Sun Microsystems Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) earlier this year. (See Sun to Acquire StorageTek for $4.1B and StorageTek CEO Eyes Exit.)

Although Martin has since disappeared from sight, we thought you might be interested to know how he fared next to some of the industrys other luminaries. (See 2005 Top Ten: Executive Payouts.)

According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , Martin's base salary was $1 million with a target bonus of another $1 million at the time of the deal. Sweet, but it gets better.

Martin’s contract also included a whopping $6 million severance payout -- in cash. Sadly, I couldn’t get a hold of anyone at Sun to confirm whether the affable New Yorker has already collected on this golden handshake, but it has certainly given me some ideas for my next contract negotiation.

Prospero año, Pat, wherever you are.— James Rogers, Senior Editor, Byte and Switch