Inside Office Depot: Chief Legal Officer Elisa Garcia

Office Depot chief legal officer Elisa Garcia has been through mergers before, but this time the personal stakes are higher: In February, Staples announced plans to buy her company for $6.3 billion. If Garcia stays on at the company post-merger, she’ll receive about $5 million in cash, stock and benefits. If she’s forced out of her job, the number jumps to $8.97 million.

In the meantime, the Federal Trade Commission is scrutinizing the deal, which would create a single national office-supply chain. Garcia has been overseeing the antitrust team at Simpson Thacher & Bartlitt that’s advising the Boca Raton, Florida-based Office ...