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SCOTT JAGOW: Being the CEO of a huge corporation is surely a stressful job, but all in all, it's not such a bad gig. Your company can do poorly, your stock can tank, and you'll still probably wind up with hundreds of millions of dollars. This morning, Home Depot's CEO Bob Nardelli resigned after six years on the job. He'll get a lot of money, but the company has no problem with him leaving. Dan Grech tells us why Nardelli was in trouble from the beginning.

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DAN GRECH: Robert Nardelli had a 10-year career with General Electric and was deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, but he had no retail experience.

When he was brought in six years ago to head Home Depot, he promised to shake things up.

Retail expert Howard Davidowitz says since then, Home Depot's has been losing to its main rival, Lowe's.

HOWARD DAVIDOWITZ: Lowe's has just beaten their brains out on the same playing field. Who's accountable? It's the CEO. It's Ray Nardelli.

Davidowitz says it didn't help that Nardelli was one of the country's best paid chief executives.

DAVIDOWITZ: There's been an outrage out there. His compensation has no relation to his negative performance, and ultimately he had to go.

Nardelli is getting paid handsomely on the way out as well. His separation package is worth $210 million.

In New York, I'm Dan Grech for Marketplace.

JAGOW: Investors seem to like Nardelli's departure. Home Depot's stock shot up three percent this morning.