Liberty University may owe its former president Jerry Falwell Jr. roughly $10.5 million over the next two years following his resignation from the evangelical institution after a series of scandals.
The Wall Street Journal reports that a source familiar with Falwell’s contract said the former university president is due his $1.25 million salary for two years. Falwell is then entitled to a lump-sum of $8 million due to a clause in his contract that allowed him to resign with full pay after he was put on an indefinite leave of absence two weeks ago.
Falwell, who is also one of President Donald Trump’s most prominent evangelical supporters, will likely consult for the school during its period of transition to new leadership, the source told The Wall Street Journal.
University officials said the school’s board of trustees unanimously accepted Falwell’s resignation during a video conference call on Tuesday. Officials issued a statement that said the board of trustees had used the meeting to look forward and consider “steps that could be taken to ensure it remained true to its mission.”
Falwell’s resignation follows a series of allegations – including appearing in a photo posted to social media with his pants unzipped. A Reuters report Monday also cited allegations by a Miami pool boy who said Falwell “enjoyed watching” his wife Becki have sex the hotel staffer. Falwell was placed on an indefinite leave of absence and the formally resigned after some back and forth on Monday.
Hours after his resignation on Monday, Falwell told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that he wouldn’t have to sue to get paid. “I didn’t break any rules—I get my compensation,” he said.
After stepping down from his post, Falwell also seized on a famous refrain from the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech, telling NPR in an interview Tuesday that he is “free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty, I am free at last!”
