Pay freeze: Unilever boss Hein Schumacher (pictured) will not be eligible for a pay rise in 2024 and 2025
Unilever will freeze the salary of its new chief executive for the next two years after a shareholder backlash over fat cat pay.
Hein Schumacher, who succeeded Alan Jope in July on £1.6million a year, will not be eligible for a pay rise in 2024 and 2025, the company behind brands including Marmite and Hellmann’s said.
The Dutchman has sought to make his mark since taking the helm and last week said he would be toning down the company’s woke agenda.
But his pay will now be frozen until 2026.
The decision came after 58pc of Unilever shareholders rejected the company’s pay report at a bruising annual general meeting in May.
Unilever has since contacted 28 of its biggest investors and met with 24 of them. It said that it found the ‘primary reason’ for votes against the directors’ pay was the incoming CEO’s remuneration’.
Andrea Jung, chair of the compensation committee, said: ‘This approach is intended to reflect and align with shareholder views in the engagement process.’