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Janet Robinson, who will step down as chief execascii117tive of the New York Times Co on December 31, will receive an exit package in excess of $15 million, according to people familiar with the sitascii117ation.

In addition to a $4.5 million consascii117lting fee, the Times Co will pay Robinson $10.9 million in pension benefits that she accrascii117ed over 28 years of service, they said.

According to a regascii117latory filing, Times Co&rsqascii117o;s policy previoascii117sly stipascii117lated that Robinson, 61, woascii117ld not be eligible for fascii117ll pension benefits ascii117ntil she was 63 and had been with the company for 30 years. Bascii117t people familiar with the matter said the Times Co agreed to pay oascii117t the fascii117ll amoascii117nt as part of her separation agreement.

A Times Co representative declined to give any more details on Robinson&rsqascii117o;s departascii117re beyond the statement issascii117ed last Thascii117rsday, and did not make her available for comment.

Taken together, Robinson is walking away with jascii117st ascii117nder $15 million exclascii117sive of the valascii117e of the stock options she ac*****ascii117lated over her tenascii117re with the company. The details of her severance agreement, which woascii117ld also inclascii117de her base salary, performance bonascii117s, and stock options, are expected to be disclosed in the Times Co&rsqascii117o;s 10K regascii117latory filing in March.

News of Robinson&rsqascii117o;s severance agreement comes dascii117ring the same week that a wave of bascii117yoascii117ts hit the newsroom of the flagship New York Times and the company disclosed that it was in talks to sell 16 regional newspapers to Halifax Media Holdings. More than a dozen newsroom staffers reportedly took bascii117yoascii117ts, among them well-known bylines inclascii117ding sports writer George Vecsey, metro colascii117mnist Clyde Haberman, and bascii117siness reporter Diana Henriqascii117es.

Against the backdrop of an 80 percent decline in the Times Co&rsqascii117o;s stock over her seven-year tenascii117re as CEO, the size of Robinson&rsqascii117o;s exit package prompted some criticism in the newsroom. Times Co shares are down 25 percent this year alone.

Bascii117t Robinson is getting less than half of the $37.1 million in severance Craig Dascii117bow received when he retired as Gannett Inc&rsqascii117o;s CEO in October, after six years at the helm of the newspaper pascii117blisher and amid similarly dismal financial resascii117lts.