Former Nokia boss to receive $27m golden handshake

Former Nokia boss Stephen Elop stands to receive around AUD$27 million in "termination payments" if the company's shareholders agree to sell its handset business to Microsoft, Nokia said on Thursday.

The Finnish firm said the money would be due to Elop following his agreement to immediately stand down alongside the announcement of the deal, and that Microsoft would pay approximately 70 percent of the total.

Elop is set to return to Microsoft, his former employer, after the closure of its 5.44 billion euros (AUD$7.8 billion) acquisition of Nokia's handset business, which prompted some Finnish media to dub him a "Trojan horse".

Nokia said Elop would be entitled to receive 18 months of his base salary, plus a short-term management cash incentive, equivalent to a total of around 4.2 million euros (AUD$6.02 million).

He would also be in line for around 14.6 million euros (AUD$21 million) from an accelerated vesting of his outstanding equity awards.

Nokia's shareholders will meet to decide on the proposed deal with Microsoft on November 19.