MPs have published evidence from Carillion's former financial directors, showing that one sold all of his shares in the company as soon as possible after retiring.
Richard Adam retired as group finance director in December 2016 after almost a decade in the post.
Evidence published by the Work and Pensions Committee and the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, has shown that by March 1 2017, he had sold £533,687 of shares in his former employer, and sold a further £242,234 as soon as they were vested on May 8.
Explaining the circa £776,000 divestment, Adam told the committee he did not "take that sort of risk" in his personal finances.
Adam told the committee he was "saddened" by the events surrounding Carillion's collapse, although evidence has also shown that he regarded the funding of the company's defined benefit pension scheme as a "waste of money".
Frank Field, chair of the committee, said: "Mr Adam presided over Carillion’s finances for a decade. He, more than anyone else, ought to know the merits of Carillion shares as a long-term investment in the light of his lengthy and lucrative tenure."
He added: "His assessment? Dumping the last of his shares at the first possible moment because he is – with his own money at least – ‘risk averse’. What conclusions are we to draw from that?"
Coverage and speculation around Carillion's collapse has focused on Adam's successor, who Field described as "hapless". However, Field also noted that he inherited a "mountain of debt" from previous directors.
