Ousted USC President Received $7.7M Payout in Wake of Sex-Abuse, Drug Scandals

When C.L. Max Nikias stepped down in the wake of the scandal in August 2018, he walked away with a compensation package totaling nearly $7.7 million – more than three times his previous annual compensation, a USA TODAY review of just-released tax documents shows. That would have put him at the top of the most recent list of compensation for private university leaders by the Chronicle of Higher Education.