After a move that strongly resembles that of Bob Lutz (who unretired himself earlier in 2009), ex-GM CEO Fritz Henderson is back at The General. Call it the rise of the dead.

After being ousted stepping down as CEO at the beginning of December, Fritz did not receive severance. To compensate for this, General Motors is taking advantage of Fritz’s vast knowledge of international operations, a subject that’s rather important now that GM has decided to retain Opel and Vauxhall.

Henderson will be paid $59,090 per month for approximately 20 hours of work (also per month). This contract will run through the end of 2010.

Whitacre’s Pay Approved

Moreover, the government treasury division in charge of approving pay packages for companies that received bailout funds have given the green light to newly-appointed permanent CEO Ed Whitacre’s $9 million package, which consists of a combination of cash, stock and restricted stock. This package exceeds what GM’s board approved for Henderson in October.

Changing It Up

Meanwhile, Ed Whitacre continues to push for change by reducing the amount of meetings while encouraging product development managers to release vehicles into the marketplace faster (and sooner). All this while GM is looking forward to its initial public stock offering and achieving profitability by the end of 2010. These are some great times to be a GM fan!