AstraZeneca investors react badly to CEO bonus payment plan

Nearly 40% of shareholders voted against the proposal to hand chief executive Pascal Soriot pay and perks of nearly €21m for 2021

Covid-19 vaccine developer AstraZeneca has suffered a substantial shareholder rebellion over proposals to hand its chief executive Pascal Soriot bigger bonus awards for the second consecutive year

Covid-19 vaccine developer AstraZeneca has suffered a substantial shareholder rebellion over proposals to hand its chief executive Pascal Soriot bigger bonus awards for the second consecutive year.

Nearly 40% voted against the policy, which could hand him pay and perks of nearly £18m (€21m) for 2021.

At the company’s annual meeting, the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker managed to win approval for its remuneration policy, which required support from shareholders holding more than 50% of the firm’s stock, but investors owning 39.8% of the shares opposed it.

£1m a month

The potential new payout could take Mr Soriot’s pay to more than £100m since he took over in 2012 – equal to £1m a month since he joined the company. 

In that time he has completely overhauled the company’s drug portfolio, tripling the share price. The group is now valued at £100bn.

Working with Oxford University, AstraZeneca was one of the first to develop a Covid-19 vaccine.

Under the company’s long-term plan, Mr Soriot’s share bonus is set to rise from 550% of his £1.3m base salary to 650%, depending on performance targets being hit. 

AstraZeneca will also raise Mr Soriot’s maximum annual bonus to 250% of salary from 200%.

• Guardian