In June, Apple announced Bob Mansfield, the SVP of hardware engineering, was leaving the company.

Since Apple makes all of its money from hardware sales, Mansfield is an important executive. He oversees the development of the iPad, iPhone, and the Mac.

However, something curious happened to Mansfield's retirement plans. They didn't happen. In August, Apple announced Mansfield was sticking around, working on "future projects."

Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports Tim Cook "nearly witnessed an insurrection" when Apple employees found out Mansfield was leaving. Internally, people didn't think Dan Riccio, Mansfield's replacement was going to be able to handle the responsibility. "Several senior engineers on Mansfield’s team vociferously complained to Cook about reporting [to Riccio]," says Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 

After listening to the complaints, Cook gave Mansfield a pay package worth $2 million a month to stick around and advise the hardware division.