The chief executive officer of the credit reporting company Equifax has stood down after hackers stole the personal financial information of 143 million consumers on his watch.  But Richard Smith isn't leaving empty handed.

Equifax says that as a condition of the 57-year old Smith's retirement, he "irrevocably" forfeits any right to a bonus in 2017.  Last year, that came out to around US$3 Million.

But he gets to keep US$72 million this year alone, which includes nine months' worth of his $1,450,000 salary, according to an analysis in Equifax's securities filings by Fortune magazine.  Plus, Smith will receive another $17.9 million over the next few years - unvested stock compensation, options, and performance-based awards - just as though he were still working at the company. 

Assuming the bad publicity doesn't prompt the company to revoke it, this comes out to US$90.1 Million - or, $0.63 for every consumer put at risk under his watch.

Smith is the biggest of three top executives to leave the company in the wake of the hacking scandal.  But given the the exposure of 143 million consumers, prominent critics are not happy that he's being allowed to go without any real consequences, and just before the company is called before a congressional investigation.

"I've called for Equifax executives to be held accountable for their role in failing to stop this data breach and hiding it from the public for forty days.  It's not real accountability if the CEO resigns without giving back a nickel in pay and without publicly answering questions," said Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren.  "The American public deserves answers about what went wrong at Equifax and what the company plans to do going forward," she argued.