The 1999 merger between Santander and Central Hispano was designed to be a "merger of equals". The top executives of the two firms would share control of the new firm. Soon after the merger, former Central Hispano executives thought chairman Botin of trying to control the firm. They threatened to take legal action against him. The issue was resolved when Central Hispano the executives agreed to severance payments (money given when leaving a company), retirement. They also turned control of the firm over to Mr. Botin. This action cost the shareholders of the firm €164M.