RIM CEO Thorsten Heins Will Make More Than $10 Million This Year. Does He Deserve It?

Earlier this week we reported on the fact that Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the former co-CEOs of RIM who saw the company lose more than 90% of its market value since 2008, got a combined exit payout of $12 million.

We have also learned what the incoming CEO, Thorsten Heins, expects to make. According to company documents, Thorsten received just under $2 million in total compensation for fiscal 2011 as a non-CEO. In fiscal 2012, as CEO, Thorsten will receive more than $10 million.

Since Thorsten came on board, RIM's stock has only sunk deeper. While it's still early in the process of any possible recovery, there haven't yet been any drastic changes to signal a potential comeback—which was what RIM was banking on when its board axed Mike and Jim.

So is Thorsten being overpaid before he's had a chance to prove himself? It's worth noting that, should he flop, RIM will have to pay two years' worth of compensation—over $20 million—to him.