Stellantis shareholders approved an increase in the remuneration of the automotive group’s executive president Carlos Tavares with 70% of the votes at a general meeting held today in Amsterdam.
The vote is not mandatory but has come under the spotlight because of the controversy surrounding the amount in question, which could reach 36.5 million euros, according to the company’s 2023 annual financial report.
Carlos Tavares, 65, includes a €10 million bonus for “transforming” the group created in 2021 by the merger of PSA and Fiat-Chrysler.
This amount also includes old-age pensions, which will be paid over the long term, as well as bonuses, which will only be paid if you reach the targets set for 2025, the last year of your current mandate.
The Portuguese manager is initially entitled to €23.5 million in the 2023 financial year. Paid primarily in shares, this remuneration also increases when the group’s share price rises, as has happened over the past three years.
The group, which includes 14 brands such as Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, Dodge and Opel, announced that it achieved record profits in 2023 of 18.6 billion euros, up 11% on last year. Its turnover approached 190 billion euros.
In 2022, Carlos Tavares was criticized by French President Emmanuel Macron, who considered the “astronomical” salary the manager receives “shocking and excessive”.
Stellantis argues that this remuneration should be compared with companies such as Boeing in the US, whose chief executive Dave Calhoun receives $33 million for 2023. The group makes most of its sales in Europe, but generates the bulk of its profits in the North American market.
Carlos Tavares, who visited the group’s plant on Monday, accepted the reward. “There is a contractual relationship between me and the company, similar to that between a footballer and a Formula One driver,” he said.
“Ninety percent of my salary is part of the company’s results (…), which proves that the results are not bad,” he added in statements to France Bleu Lorraine Nord radio. “If you think this is unacceptable, pass a law and change the current one, and I will respect it.”
The President of the Socialist Group in the National Assembly, Boris Vallo, announced that he will again introduce the 2020 bill aimed at limiting pay disparities in companies.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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