Mel Karmazin's base salary for 2010, per an SEC filing, increased to $1.5 million from $1.25 million, and his yearly bonus increased to $8.4 million from $7 million for a total of $9.9 million in compensation. In addition, Karmazin also received $35.2 million in stock option awards, and there is a clause in his agreement that states if Karmazin is either fired as the CEO or there is a change of control at Sirius XM, he will receive payments and benefits valued at between $108 million to $119.8 million. In an interesting note, in that same proxy filing according to NASDAQ, Sirius highlighted the new deal it made to keep Howard Stern for another five years. It says it was among several "achievements and other measures that contributed to [its] continued growth and success." Stern recently sued Sirius XM, claiming he and his agent were denied a number of stock bonuses alleged to be a part of his prior employment agreement, from when he first joined Sirius.