Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner will depart General Motors with some $20 million in retirement benefits and other compensation, a company spokeswoman said.
"It's not a severance package," said GM spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Mereem after Wagoner agreed to step down under pressure from the White House as it hardens conditions for new aid to the troubled auto giant.
"It's pension benefits and other deferred compensation that he's accrued as of December 31 during his 32 years at General Motors."
Rashid-Mereem said Wagoner was also eligible for other post-retirement benefits.
"That hasn't been sorted out yet," she said.
Wagoner, 56, joined GM in 1977 after studying at Duke University and getting an MBA from Harvard University.
He rose through the ranks in posts including executive vice president and president of GM North America, and GM president and chief operating officer, before becoming CEO in 2000.