Feb 28, 2017
Unilever CEO’s pay cut by 20% in 2016
The chief executive of Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group that rebuffed a $143bn takeover proposal from Kraft Heinz, was paid 20 per cent less last year than in 2015, taking home €8.4m. Paul Polman, a flag-bearer of corporate sustainability, has often said that he would work for free and is "Embarrassed" by the amount he is paid. FTfm. Graeme Pitkethly, Unilever finance director, in November described a package of performance measures that includes the new compensation system as "The biggest change Unilever has undergone in the last 10 years." The company is also making €1bn of savings from zero-based budgeting - when managers have to justify each expense from zero every year, also popularised by 3G. Unilever said last week it would accelerate these changes in a wide-ranging review of its business triggered by the shock of Kraft Heinz's aborted bid. Pay dissent has not been a feature at Unilever meetings. In April last year, 94 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the 2015 pay report, which was only fractionally down on the previous year's 96 per cent.
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