What do you think the CEO of BP would receive as a pay raise if his company was flush with profits, after a record or near record year? I ask that question because CEO Bob Dudley was awarded a 20 percent pay raise when, as noted by Houston Chronicle business columnist Chris Tomlinson, he has managed the “company through a dramatic drop in share price,” and has laid “off thousands of employees and endangered the company’s dividend.”
This was done in the face of a company-wide ban on salary increases and a near shareholder revolt over the pay raise, with 59 percent of company shareholders voting against the pay raise. BP Board Chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg’s comment to BP shareholders after their vote was about as stark as it could be. He stated, “Let me be clear. We hear you.” (Fill in duh?; say what?; huh?; or a more colorful adjective(s) here.)
