There aren't enough details in the article for me to know what's going on here, but my first thought was "the commissions are being paid to whoever is leading t

There aren't enough details in the article for me to know what's going on here, but my first thought was "the commissions are being paid to whoever is leading the team in her absence". The crucial (and unanswered) question is whether she would have received commissions which she "didn't earn" based on work her replacement did in her absence.