KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Mark A. Ernst, the former CEO of H&R Block who guided the tax preparing company into the subprime mortgage market with Option One unit, will receive a cash severance package of $2.55 million, the company announced. He will also be fully vested in stock options and be covered on the company's health insurance plan until 2010.
Option One, once the 6th largest mortgage lender in the country, lost $1 billion in the market downturn. H&R Block tried to sell the operation to Cerberus Capital Management LP, but the deal collapsed.
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