Home
Telecom
Telecom News
Alcatel Lucent Cuts CEOs Golden Parachute Following French Pressure

Alcatel-Lucent Cuts CEOs Golden Parachute Following French Pressure

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 11 September 2015 17:04 IST

Click Here to Add Gadgets360 As A Trusted Source

Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent said Friday it had nearly halved the compensation due to its former chief executive after the EUR 14-million (roughly Rs. 104 crores) payout sparked an uproar in France.

The French-US company said its board of directors and former chief executive Michel Combes had agreed to reduce his compensation to a maximum of EUR 7.9 million.

The payout, coming as Combes jumps ship to a telecom operator while troubled Alcatel-Lucent's buyout by its Finnish rival Nokia has not been completed, sparked a storm in France where executive compensation is a sensitive issue as unemployment hovers around 10 percent.

(Also see: Alcatel-Lucent Chief Defends EUR 14-Million Payout)

Combes had insisted that most of the compensation was not a golden parachute but instead a reflection of the increased value of the company's stock following the Nokia buyout as, like most executives, he received shares as compensation.

He had given up in April a EUR 2.4-million payment due to him when leaving the company.

However the package sparked not only criticism from ministers in France's Socialist government, but also investigations by authorities.

Alcatel-Lucent said it took into account recommendations from two government bodies as well as trade associations, including cutting a planned EUR 3.1-million payment as part of a non-competition agreement into line with the level prevalent in France.

Some of the compensation will also be made contingent on the successful completion of Nokia's purchase of Alcatel-Lucent.

Comments

Get your daily dose of tech news, reviews, and insights, in under 80 characters on Gadgets 360 Turbo. Connect with fellow tech lovers on our Forum. Follow us on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News for instant updates. Catch all the action on our YouTube channel.