It started on 14 April this year, when BP’s 20 percent pay rise for its CEO was rejected by 59 percent of its shareholders. That was the start, but it was hardly the end. On the same day, just hours later, 53 percent of Smith & Nephew’s shareholders voted against the remuneration committee’s decision to pay out bonuses even though performance targets were not met. A substantial minority—15 percent—voted against gas utility Centrica’s pay package just a few days later on 18 April. On 21 April, 42 percent of Anglo American shareholders voted against the CEO’s pay package. Even though it was lower than the previous year, it was still too much for shareholders who saw their investment fall by around 70 percent. On the same day, 14 percent of shareholders voted against CEO pay at information company RELX (formerly Reed Elsevier).
Later in the month, 28 April, 72 percent of Weir shareholders voted against, one of the largest protest votes ever and certainly the largest since pay votes became binding two years ago. Then at pharmaceutical company Shire, almost half of shareholders objected to a salary rise for the CEO. And in the third shareholder revolt that day, construction group CRH saw 40 percent of shareholders vote against an increase in the potential bonus to 590 percent of salary. Some 21 percent of Countrywide shareholders voted against pay at the company. Finally, on 5 May, 24 percent of Reckitt Benckiser shareholders voted against the company’s pay policies.
