Recently, Unilever is facing a growing investor backlash over the pay package awarded to its new chief executive, Fernando Fernandez, following a recommendation from influential proxy advisor Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) that shareholders vote against the company’s upcoming remuneration report.
The consumer goods multinational, whose brands include Dove, Hellmann’s, and Marmite, is preparing for its annual general meeting later this month. According to Sky News, ISS has advised investors to reject the CEO pay plan amid concerns that Unilever has failed to address previously raised shareholder discontent over executive compensation.
Sources familiar with the ISS report say Fernandez’s base salary of €1.8 million is only €50,000 less than that of his predecessor, Hein Schumacher, despite Unilever’s claims that it was setting a lower benchmark following Schumacher’s abrupt departure in February. ISS noted that the marginal discount “does not appear to have sufficiently accounted for previously raised shareholder concerns on the CEO role’s pay arrangement.”
The issue of executive pay remains contentious across the grocery and consumer goods sector. In 2024, campaign group ShareAction called on Tesco CEO Ken Murphy to justify his £10 million compensation. In response, Murphy acknowledged he was “well paid” but emphasized that a significant portion of his earnings was performance-based and determined by the board on behalf of shareholders.
