Some of you may remember a story we did more than a month ago about the resignation of Tom Freston from the reigns of Viacom… well, now the details of his leaving have been outed and Tom’s ouster really put a dent in Sumner Redstone’s pocketbook.

Philippe Dauman replaced Freston as CEO and that little replacement deal cost Redstone a little over $72 million, a three-year adviser deal for Freston at $1 million/year and Viacom stock options currently valued at $10 million.

Wait! There’s more. In the separation agreement filed with the SEC yesterday, Viacom said Freston gets $59 million to pay out the rest of his contract, which runs through June 2009. He also had accrued $7.4 million in deferred compensation and $5.7 million for the balance of his 401(k) plan.

In an unusual feature of the agreement, Freston can exit his adviser contract with 14 days’ notice — meaning he essentially has a noncompete clause that he can cancel at will. No wonder this guy is smiling like that in the picture.

I wonder if I could get a severance deal like that? I’d probably only end up with a year’s supply of beer and chocolate.

Source: Variety