The broadcaster has been treading on eggshells with shareholders, following the appointment of Rupert Murdoch's son James as Ball's replacement.
Investors had questioned the independence of Murdoch Junior, whose father is chairman of News Corporation, which has a 35.4% stake in BSkyB. James' appointment was accepted by shareholders at the BSkyB AGM on Friday evening.
BSkyB has defended Ball's payoff by comparing it with the £650m that could be wiped off the value of the company's shares if Ball re-emerged at cable company NTL, or ITV, which is currently without a chairman.
Ball, who took up the top post at BSkyB in 1999, is credited with turning BSkyB into the UK's biggest digital broadcaster with more than 7m subscribers.
BSkyB directors fear that detailed knowledge of the company would put any rival at an advantage if it were to employ him, according to a report in the Sunday Telegraph.
Ball earned £2.5m in salary, bonus and pensions last year and will continue to remain a contracted employee of the company until May.
The £10m agreement preventing him from working for a rival would begin then.
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