Mizzou to pay Jim Sterk almost $1.5 million to leave A.D. job, agreement reveals

Jim Sterk will be paid the nearly $1.5 million remaining on his contract to leave his post as Missouri athletic director, with any compensation earned from future employment elsewhere offsetting against the amount due, per records obtained by The Star from the university on Wednesday.

Per the terms of Sterk’s “Transition Agreement and Release,” which he finalized with MU president Mun Choi on Monday, he will be owed two remaining years’ salary — at $507,500 per year — along with $450,000 in incentives and deferred compensation for a total cost of $1,465,000.

Sterk, 65, will remain the Tigers’ athletic director until a replacement is found or Sept. 15, whichever comes first. In the event Sterk ceases to be the A.D. prior to Aug. 22, he will remain an employee of the university until the remainder of that day.

The document stated that it was of “mutual benefit and interest” for Sterk to step down as athletic director, with no mention of termination or retirement. Admissions of liability or wrongdoing is “expressly denied” by both Sterk and the school in the agreement.

Sterk informed his employees via email Monday after his meeting with Choi that he would be stepping down as AD once a replacement was found. Sterk was the school’s AD since August 2016 on a seven-year deal set to last until 2023.