Royal Dutch Shell faced an investor revolt at its annual meeting on Tuesday when just under half of voting shareholders failed to back a plan to award three executives €1m (£795,000) bonuses to stay in their jobs. The pay protest was one of the most significant for a UK company since GlaxoSmithKline’s investors rejected its policies for senior executives in 2003. One-third of Shell shareholders who voted on the bonus plan opposed it. Combined with those who withheld their votes, 49.5% of voting shareholders rejected the bonuses. The Shell rebellion adds to a chorus of dissent over so-called “retention payments” – bonuses for executives to dissuade them from leaving a company.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Wednesday, May 21st, 2008 at 5:27 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with shell. Edit this entry.