Dell is to pay former chairman and chief executive Kevin Rollins $5m over the next year as part of a non-compete severance deal, according to
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings.
Rollins resigned from his positions at Dell on 31 January, shortly before the company announced that founder Michael Dell would be returning as chief executive.
Rollins took over as chief executive in 2004. But several quarters of declining profits and slow sales saw the company lose its crown to HP as the world's top PC maker, prompting Rollins's resignation two weeks later.
Dell is also the target of an SEC investigation into the company's accounting practices, and Rollins was among those named in a shareholder lawsuit alleging an executive 'pump and dump' scheme.
Rollins will remain with the company as an advisor on his current salary until 4 May, at which point he will receive the first of five severance payments.
The payments will be made until April 2008 on the understanding that Rollins does not work for one of Dell's direct competitors over the 12-month period