Stéphane Richard will ultimately not receive his severance pay. In a press release published by Orange on Tuesday, the operator indicates that its ex-CEO has waived an exceptional remuneration of 475,000 euros. Until now, the board of directors wanted to propose it this Thursday, at a general meeting.
“This decision was motivated by the overall level of Stéphane Richard’s compensation since 2010, by the desire to compensate for the absence of any pension plan, as well as to underline the permanent spirit of collaboration in which he accompanied the rigorous process of succession, specifies the operator in his missive. The board also wanted to highlight all of the financial and strategic results obtained throughout his three terms of office at the head of the group. »
A check and reviews
But that pay has drawn criticism from several proxy advisory firms, including Glass Lewis, ISS and Proxinvest, who have called on shareholders to vote against it. Faced with this discontent, Stéphane Richard preferred to throw in the towel. « Faced with the incomprehension of certain shareholders, who consider that this allocation does not comply with the principles that must apply to the remuneration of corporate officers and that this modality should have been planned and anticipated, Stéphane Richard decides to waive this exceptional remuneration »specifies Orange.
Stéphane Richard was forced to leave his post as CEO of Orange after his conviction in the Tapie case. He was replaced as CEO on April 4 by Christel Heydemann, from Schneider Electric. He must finally yield the non-executive presidency of the operator to Jacques Aschenbroich, today at the head of Valeo.