[miningmx.com] — GLENCORE CEO Ivan Glasenberg has defended steep
executive pay packages and showed support for the CEO of Xstrata, which Glencore
plans to take over in a $30bn transaction, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Speaking at an industry dinner – a week after Xstrata announced it would pay
retention deals to 73 of its key employees, totalling more than £170m – Glasenberg
said shareholders needed to pay for managers who deliver returns, acting like
shareholders rather than caretakers.
“[For a chief executive who does not own shares], to get him to have this
entrepreneurial culture, to work like one of us, to chase every deal like we do, we are
going to have to pay him,’ Reuters quoted Glasenberg.
“If I were the CEO and my shareholders voted down my salary, my compensation,
because they did not believe I was worth it, then you have to leave… If you want
good CEOs, you are going to have to pay.’
Glasenberg said that Mick Davis had long been one of the best-paid executives: “So
be it … We are a major shareholder in Xstrata. I am happy to pay him well, because
he is giving us great returns,’ he said.
