I think at this point it might be too late as the boat has been rocked and by the sound of it, and OP response to another comment on this thread, I say it's tilting. If I was the CEO, and the person I hired and gave a very generous 50% comes to me with that kind of demand, I'd be realising I've made a mistake. It doesn't matter how good someone is. Everyone is replaceable, and sometimes one's perceived "incompetence" is only that - perceived. We have one side of a story and if I learned one thing from the internet is that every story is like a coin - with 3 sides.