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The problem was allowing him to keep his job and walk away with a bonus check.

This guy should have walked away with nothing instead.

That isn’t how equity works

Well as much as I agree with you I'm sure the legal part of it was looked at with a microscope.

It would have been nice if Microsoft gave him incentive to ride off into the sunset immediately as much as he doesn't deserve it.

People at that level have complicated employment contracts. Getting rid of them without huge downsides isn't always straightforward.

ive never heard of optics being used in context like this

It is used in the PR sense