15 March 2012
Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Peter Voser saw his total pay packet more than double in 2011, a year when shareholders in the oil super-major had to make do with flat dividend payouts.
The blue-chips annual report showed Vosers total compensation last year hit 11.6 million (£10.1 million), boosted by payouts on a host of the companys long-term share plans, in contrast with a far smaller 4.7 million in 2010. The payout comes after a year in which the Anglo-Dutch giant boosted profits 54% to $28.6 billion (£18.1 billion) as oil prices averaged $111 a barrel. But the companys dividend remained flat at $1.68 over the year.
The firms upstream director Malcolm Brinded, who steps down next month after a career with Shell spanning nearly 40 years, took home almost as much as Voser last year, landing £9.9 million in salary, bonuses and share schemes. The huge payouts are likely to raise eyebrows among investors who delivered a shock blow to the board three years ago by voting down discretionary payouts to bosses despite missing performance targets.
Shell added today that the UKs former US ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald is joining the board in July as a non-executive director on a likely salary of at least 120,000 a year joining heavy-hitters including outgoing Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann.
