NBC: Conan O'Brien reaches $45M exit deal

NEW YORK (AP) — Conan O'Brien told NBC good riddance Thursday in a $45 million deal for his exit from "The Tonight Show," allowing Jay Leno to return to the late-night program he hosted for 17 years.

Under the deal, which came less than eight months after O'Brien took the reins from Leno, O'Brien will get more than $33 million, NBC said. The rest will go to his 200-strong staff in severance.

Compensation for O'Brien's staff and crew was the final hurdle in negotiations. O'Brien was said to have been "dug in" on the issue out of concern for the workers, while NBC said this week that it had already agreed to pay "millions of dollars to compensate every one of them" and deemed it a public relations "ploy."

On Wednesday night's show, speaking of a push to get a severance deal for his staff from NBC, O'Brien joked, "At first they thought I was gullible. They said the staff would be taken to a big farm, where they'd be allowed to run free forever."

Clearly, the differences were worked out.

"Conan appreciated what NBC did to take care of his staff and crew, and decided to supplement the severance they were getting from the network out of his own pocket," said his manager, Gavin Polone.

O'Brien will be free to start another TV job after Sept. 1, NBC said in its statement, released Thursday, which confirmed that "under terms of an agreement that was signed earlier today, NBC and O'Brien will settle their contractual obligations and the network will release O'Brien from his contract."

O'Brien's final show will be Friday, with Tom Hanks scheduled to appear as well as Will Ferrell - his first guest as "Tonight" host last June.

Leno will return to "Tonight" on March 1.