Mark Thompson, now chief executive of The New York Times Co., told Parliament's Public Accounts Committee the payoffs were "value for money" for the corporation over the long term.
The BBC has been criticized for paying 25 million pounds (USD 39 million) to outgoing senior staff, about 2 million pounds more than their contracts required.
The payoffs have sparked a war of words between Thompson and other BBC bosses who appeared before lawmakers for questioning today.
Thompson accused BBC Trust Chairman Chris Patten of misleading lawmakers with claims he did not know about the issue, an accusation Patten rejected.
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