University of Colorado officials called Gary Barnett’s $3 million buyout a “fair deposition,” saying his contract obligated CU to pay him up to $4 million.
Barnett was owed about $2 million for a year and a half of salary, television and radio shows, a sponsorship agreement with Nike and other benefits, CU president Hank Brown said Friday.
The university also was obligated to pay him up to $2 million – the amount of his retention bonus had he made it to the end of his five-year contract in July 2007. The bonus accumulated at a rate of $400,000 per year, money Barnett would have had to forfeit if he quit early and CU had to forfeit if it asked him to go, Brown said.
“You could argue the amount due him under the contract is between $3 (million) or $4 million,” Brown said. “It was a pretty complicated contract.”
Barnett’s contract included a base salary of $185,500 this year plus more than $600,000 annually from Nike, media appearances and promotional earnings.
