Yes, and universally it resulted in a mass exodus of good talent, I have experienced it 2 times in my career, every time most of the good talent was gone at other employers with in a year
>He was gaming the system to get above market pay.
lol, I always love when people believe that using a program exactly as it was designed is a "loop hole" or "gaming the system"..
No he was not gaming the system
>If you think someone came up with 30 truly novel and useful software patents in 2 years you might not have read enough software patents.
I am opposed to all software patents, however that does not change anything. The fact is to the company and the current legal climate around patents I can assure you each of those patents are worth more than the $$$ they where paying out.
>Has he worked in software before? Clearly he's never been in a management/leadership position where he actually has to balance the concerns of the company with his own ego.
Clearly you one of the bad managers that believe they are putting company concerns above all else and ends up hurting company due to their short sighted policies.
I bet you would be the type of manager that would outsource an entire dept, pat yourself on the back for the cost savings, and then jump ship as the company plummets of the cliff you created