Ousted LPL CEO Arnold gets $12M settlement

Former LPL Financial CEO Dan Arnold is receiving a settlement agreement worth $12 million in stock options a little more than two months after he was fired for failing to maintain a respectful workplace.

LPL filed a formal settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission giving Arnold the right to exercise 47,994 of the stock options he had in the firm. LPL was selling for $327.56 a share on Friday, giving the total deal a value of about $12 million, according to the settlement agreement.

An LPL spokesperson declined to comment on the deal.

As part of the same settlement, Arnold is forfeiting the right to exercise 98,432 additional options that he owned. Arnold is also not receiving severance benefits or other equity awards provided under the firm's incentive plans. All told, the deal is providing Arnold with about 15% of the total compensation he would otherwise have been able to receive had his employment been teriminated "without cause" or "for good reason," as defined by the firm's employment agreements.

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Arnold has from Dec. 16 to Dec. 31 to exercise the options he retained. He also has agreed to various non-competition, non-disparagement and non-solicitation provisions.  The non-competition and non-solicitation clauses are in effect until the end of September next year.

Arnold was fired by LPL on Oct. 1 after an investigation by an outside law firm found that statements he had made to employees violated the firm's code of conduct. He was officially replaced on Oct. 21 by Rich Steinmeier, who served as  chief growth officer for the firm before his promotion.

- This article has been updated with further details and a note that an LPL spokesperson declined to comment.