The head of Europe’s most valuable telecommunications group should be paid significantly better.
(Photo: AFP)
Düsseldorf Telekom boss Timotheus Höttges should be able to earn significantly more in the future. Insiders report that an increase in his fixed salary of EUR 300,000 and a maximum remuneration of EUR 9.1 million have been agreed with the supervisory board. The head of the Dax group was one of the best paid managers in Germany last year.
In 2020, Höttges’ remuneration rose by 18.4 percent year-on-year to EUR 7.26 million despite the start of the corona crisis. However, the highest-paid Dax manager that year was Post boss Frank Appel, with an annual salary of more than ten million euros.
At the Telekom shareholders’ meeting on April 7, the shareholders are to decide on the new remuneration system for Höttges. A Telekom spokesman did not want to comment on Höttges’ remuneration: A publication will only take place with the invitation to the general meeting, which one does not want to anticipate.
“The following statement is also important to Tim Höttges: It is wrong to insinuate that he has built up pressure or a negotiating position with alternative offers,” said the spokesman.
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The background is the premature contract extension of the Telekom boss. Although his contract as CEO would not have expired until the end of 2023, the Supervisory Board had already extended the working paper by five years early in December 2021. Among other things, Höttges cited Telekom’s strong position in the USA and successes in Europe as arguments for his performance. Manager Magazin reported that Höttges put pressure on the supervisory board by pointing out possible better-paid alternatives to his position at Telekom.
Managers of the US subsidiary earn significantly more
The management of the American subsidiary T-Mobile US is remunerated significantly more lavishly. Former T-Mobile US CEO John Legere received $138 million in compensation for 2020. The top salary was largely due to a bonus for completing the merger with rival Sprint.
Legere’s successor Mike Sievert also earns more than Höttges. With a payout of $55 million, he was the highest-paying CEO in the telecom industry in 2020.
Höttges had repeatedly demanded higher remuneration from the supervisory board, referring to the high payments to the US managers. However, the overseers mostly did not give in to these demands. The federal government holds around 30 percent of Telekom shares. Representatives of the federal government had repeatedly spoken out against the manager’s high remuneration demands.
More: Deutsche Telekom pushes sale of the radio tower division. The valuation for the division could be 20 billion euros.
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