Shareholders of Magnum-to-Marmite consumer goods giant Unilever have rejected the company’s pay policy, which would have handed CEO Alan Jope up to €5.1 million (£4.5 million) this year.
Shareholders representing 58% of voting shares rejected the policy, which included a €1.6 million base salary for Jope, who will retire at the end of the year, as well as a bonus of up to 225% of the base salary. That policy was unchanged from last year, but a 42% increase from the year before that.
Finance boss Graeme Pitkethly was set to make a base salary of €1.2 million and a bonus of up to €2.2 million.
A significant minority of shareholders, representing a 17% stake, also voted down the motion to re-elect Nils Andersen as Unilver’s chairman.
The FTSE 100 firm has faced criticism in recent months as it hikes the prices of its goods amid wide-ranging inflation. Last month, it revealed a 10.7% rise in sales for the first quarter of the year, which was almost entirely due to price rises as sales volumes were close to flat.
At the time, Jope said that Unilever had handled price rises “responsibly”.
Earlier today, London Stock Exchange CEO Julia Hoggett called for the bosses of top UK firms to be paid more, in order to keep London listings competitive with the US.
