Fine Print, Big Money

Bruce Edwards learned a lot about numbers during his 11 years at AST Research Inc., and he proved it when he left the company last December to become chief executive at nearby Milcom International Inc.

By all accounts, the former chief financial officer left AST of his own volition to seek greener pastures. But somehow, he pocketed $958,200 in severance pay.

Normally, a CFO leaving to take a better job elsewhere “would walk away with nothing,” said Larry Wangler, an executive compensation expert at Towers Perrin in Irvine.

But Edwards, 42, took advantage of a clause in his contract that called for a big payday if he were to leave following a “change of control” of the company. It just so happens that there was such a change six months before Edwards left, when Samsung Electronics of Korea acquired 40% of AST’s stock.

“To resign and get a severance payment and have a job waiting for you is by far the exception,” Wangler said. “But that’s the best way to do it.”

* Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com.