I would think he was paid to buy out his contract rather than to leave
NBC was feeling guilt for the inequity in this country. They had heard the story of Bill and Hill being ‘dead broke’ following their service and NBC wanted to make sure Gregory did not start his post job life in the same predicament.
Four million is chump change.
According to the the book about the LBO of RJR/Nabisco, the ousted CEO was pad fifty-four million on his expedited exit.
I pointed that out in a b-school class, and the prof pointed out that it was nothing compared to the wasteful and inefficient way the CEO was running the corporation, and it was more than worth it get rid of the guy.
With the Gregory, I'm guessing it's costing them more in both ad income and prestige, also related to ad income, to keep him on.
Years ago, I read an article about the Sunday talking head shows, and if you ever wonder why entities such as Big Food, Big Pharma, etc. sponsor them, it's because the shows are aimed at the inside Beltway policy making crowd.
Ergo, to get the important policy pols currently in power on the show, you have to be able to attract the home town audience, and Gregory apparently wasn't drawing them, so he was probably only able to get the third stringers on his show.