ASML shareholders approve million-euro increase in salary cap for top executives
Top executives at chip machine maker ASML can expect a massive salary increase. A majority of ASML shareholders approved to increase the maximum remuneration for the company’s board by millions of euros, despite reservations from a small number of investors and the works council, Omroep Brabant reported.
91 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to increase the maximum remuneration for a board member to over 11 million euros. For comparison, ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet received just over 5.4 million euros in salary and bonuses last year.
Terry Kelly, head of the ASML remuneration committee, argued that higher remuneration is needed to attract and retain top talent. According to Kelly, ASML’s bonuses are still lower than the average for a group of comparable listed companies.
The works council said it understood the arguments, but still had reservations. Works council chairman Klaas Brantjies worries that the massive salary increase at the top would be bad for the team feeling between executives and the rest of ASML’s employees. He also warned that diverging the incomes of the board and workfloor even further could have negative social consequences.
