Unilever is freezing CEO Hein Schumacher’s fixed pay for the next two years amid a shareholder backlash over the company’s current performance.
As a result, Schumacher, who took over the role as chief executive from Alan Jope in July, will not be eligible for a fixed pay increase to his current packet of £1.62m in 2024 or 2025, with the Compensation Committee next reviewing his pay in 2026.
At the Magnum owners AGM on 3 May, 58% of shareholders voted against adopting the directors’ remuneration report.
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Chair of the compensation committee Andrea Jung said that since the AGM, Unilever has undertaken an “extensive engagement exercise” with investors to discuss the voting in which it contacted 28 of its largest shareholders to conduct meetings.
Jung said: “Whilst the majority of shareholders agreed that the fixed pay level for the new CEO appropriately reflected the size and complexity of the role, there was a preference that alignment with the market could have been achieved gradually, rather than in one step on appointment.
“The Compensation Committee considered this feedback carefully and the board has decided to freeze the CEO’s fixed pay for the next two years.”
This comes as Schumacher said last week that Unilever will no longer seek to “force-fit” all of its brands with a social purpose, following a backlash over the company’s ‘virtue-signalling’.
According to the Financial Times, the leading manufacturer has now laid out a plan to drive growth following years of disappointing performance.
