Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) ex-boss Ben van Beurden was paid £9.7mln in 2022, over 50% more than a year earlier, as the oil giant splashes the cash on its past and present leadership.
Beurden was in charge of Shell between 2014 and 2022, before being replaced by Wael Sawan on 1 January this year.
The oil supermajor said in its annual report Beurden had led it through “some of the most difficult challenges any chief executive could face,” though last year the company benefited from the sky-high oil and gas prices in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, enjoying its most successful ever year as profits came in at US$40bn.
In comparison, outgoing chief financial officer Jessica Uhl, who left Shell in March, was paid a total of £410,000 in 2022, equating to roughly £140,000 per month, lower than Beurden’s £800,000 average monthly paycheck.
Uhl’s replacement Sinead Gorman raked in £0.32mln each month, again lower than counterpart Beurden, being paid £2.9mln for her nine months spent in the role.
Shell also gifted its eight executives over £8mln worth of shares on Tuesday, with current Sawan solely receiving £1.7mln as part of its employee retention award scheme.
Its two female executives, Gorman and upstream director Zoe Yujnovich, received the fewest number of shares among the group though, worth around £551,200 and £733,000 respectively.
It comes after the Financial Conduct Authority set targets in July 2021 for London-listed companies to fill at least 40% of board positions with women, which had almost been achieved by February 2022 by FTSE 100 firms according to government figures.
Shell's bumper salary for its ex-boss follows Adidas's announcement on Wednesday that it would give outgoing chief executive Kasper Rorsted €16mln (£14.2mln) in severance pay after his contract was terminated four years early.
Shares fell 1% to 2,560p following the news.