Snack maker's new CEO gets sweet deal.

• Author: Willis, Dail
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER

David Singer made $854,026 last year in salary, bonuses and other compensation as chief financial officer of Coca-Cola Bottling Company Consolidated. He resigned in May to become CEO of Charlotte-based snack maker Lance, where he'll make at least $1.1 million a year. But he's still on the Charlotte-based bottler's payroll. He'll get $21,330 a month for the next 20 years. That's $5.1 million.

The payout, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, will take longer than the 19 years Singer, 50, put in at Coke Consolidated. The filing says he will provide consulting services for two years. Moreover, he has promised that for five years he won't engage in competitive activities or entice former colleagues to join his new employer. In exchange, Singer gets full benefits under Coke Consolidated's officer-retention plan.

Michael Kennedy, managing director in the financial-services practice in the Atlanta office of executive search firm Korn/Ferry International, calls the arrangement "a little rich." Particularly surprising, he says, is the length of the noncompete. The customary arrangement is a year.

It's not clear what competitive infractions Singer could commit. Coke Consolidated is the nation's second-largest Coca-Cola bottler...