Imagine living in a world where people are paid with cash bonuses, stock options, or generous severance pay when they are fired from their jobs at due to a company merger, they are asked to leave their jobs or choose to retire. This appears to be a reality for many CEOs and senior executives of companies. We live in an economy where mergers and acquisitions have become common, and allowing this option for a company's highest-paid employees is arguably unfair. While researching golden parachutes, I asked myself questions due to the circumstances surrounding this executive option. For example, why should CEOs, who live very comfortably, receive a compensation package for losing their position due to a corporate merger or retirement when the future of employees and shareholders is at stake? Is it right for the rich to become even richer when numerous employees below the top executives suffer the same fate due to a merger and shareholders' investments are at risk but they do not even receive some form of additional compensation? Of course there are those who advocate issuing golden parachutes, arguing that they could convince a possible corporate merger not to happen due to the costs associated with a golden parachute package for top managers. Another point in support of golden parachutes is that they can facilitate the absorption of higher-level executives, such as CEOs, into the future merged company. I will address the question of whether CEOs and other executives deserve to receive the Golden Parachute option from their company. As well as a brief description of the golden parachutes and my position towards them. They are a very important part of our growing economy and will always be considered in a merger/acquisition if assigned to executives. Golden parachutes, first formed in the 1960s, were designed to... middle of paper... ...pay-a-special-relationship-those-sweet-trips-to-the-merger-mall .html?pagewanted=all&src=pm4. Sherter, Alain. (2012) How CEOs' “golden parachutes” hurt shareholders. CBS News, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-ceo-golden-parachutes-hurt-shareholders/5. Evans, J. D., & Hefner, F. (2009). Business ethics and the decision to adopt golden parachute contracts: Empirical evidence of concern for all stakeholders. Journal of Business Ethics, 86(1), 65-79. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-008-9818-96. Pradnya Joshi (2013). Golden parachutes are still very fashionable. New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/30/business/golden-parachutes-are-still-very-much-in-style.html?pagewanted=all&_r=07. Jeff Reeves (2012), “The CEOs with the 20 Biggest Golden Parachutes in History.” Place of investors. http://investorplace.com/2012/01/ceo-golden-parachute-executive-compensation/