H&R Block's former CEO gets $5.2M in fiscal '08

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Mark Ernst, who stepped down as chief executive officer and chairman of H&R Block Inc. in November, received compensation valued at $5.2 million in fiscal 2008, a 70 percent increase over the previous year, a securities filing Thursday showed. Ernst was ousted after dissident shareholder Richard Breeden and two others were elected to the company's board of directors last September, charging that the company's diversification into areas such as mortgage lending had stolen momentum from its core tax preparation and accounting services businesses. The Kansas City-based company said that it paid Ernst $698,045 in salary and $2.6 million in other compensation, most of which represented severance payments, for the year ended April 30, 2008. The other compensation also included $60,040 in life insurance... [read full story]