The former Shell boss’s salary in 2022 once again highlighted record oil companies’ profits in 2022, benefiting from higher energy prices in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
And the company revealed – in its annual report, which was reviewed by the specialized energy platform – that former CEO Ben van Burden received a salary package of 9.7 million pounds (11.5 million US dollars) last year (2022), an increase of 53% from 2021.
Van Beurden received 7.4 million euros ($7.8 million) in 2021, and it seems a difference in the currency, because Shell had not yet moved its headquarters from the Netherlands to Britain.
The company said that Wael Sawan – who took over the position to succeed “Van Beurden” in January 2023 – will receive a basic salary of 1.4 million pounds ($ 1.69 million), a target bonus of 125% of the salary, and a maximum bonus of 250%. .
It is reported that Shell achieved record profits of $ 40 billion in 2022, more than double, which is the highest level the group has ever recorded.
Shell CEO salary in 2022
Van Burden’s payments included a base salary of £1.42m ($1.69m), an annual bonus of £2.59m ($3.08m), paid half in shares and the other half in cash, and around £5m ($5.95m) under The company’s long-term incentive plan, according to the company’s annual report published today, Thursday (March 9, 2023).
The amount was an increase from the £6.57m ($7.8m) Van Burden received in 2021 when the company was based in the Netherlands, but still less than the £17.88m ($21.27m) he received in 2018.
That brings former Shell boss Van Beurden’s total salary since he became chief executive in 2014 to more than 90 million pounds ($107.08 million) at today’s exchange rates, according to Financial Times calculations.
Van Beurden will continue to work for Shell as an advisor to the board of directors until June 2023, when he will leave the group.
The company said he would be paid 1.42 million pounds ($1.69 million), equivalent to one year’s basic salary, between July and December 2023 as compensation for his “loss of position”.
Demands to impose exceptional taxes
Anti-corruption NGO Global Witness noted that Van Beurden’s wages were 294 times the average salary in the UK for the last year (2022).
Alice Harrison, Fossil Campaign Leader at Global Witness, said: “It is shocking, but not surprising that one of the world’s richest oil and gas giants can give its chief executive an amazing bonus, when the hardworking people – nurses, paramedics, teachers – should strike. To get a fair wage.
And she added, “It is evidence of the extent of the imbalance in our energy system, when we see that Shell and other oil companies have made record profits from the energy crisis that forces families to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table,” according to the statements reported by the “Guardian” newspaper.
The NGO asked the government to impose an exceptional tax that “takes into account bonuses for senior executives” during the government’s budget presentation next week, to finance the transition to “less polluting, cheaper and better energy security domestic renewable energy sources”.
The following infographic – prepared by the specialized energy platform – shows the profits of major oil companies in 2022:
Shell business results in 2022
Shell’s profits in 2022 amounted to about $39.9 billion, more than double the previous year (2021), surpassing the previous record of $31 billion in 2008.
The company also reported a record profit in the fourth quarter of 2022, amounting to $9.8 billion on the back of a strong recovery in LNG trading profits, more than analysts’ expectations of $8 billion.
The company announced a new $4 billion share buyback program over the next 3 months, according to a statement of business results issued in February 2023.
Shell bought back $19 billion in shares in the year ending February 2023, nearly double the total at some point before the coronavirus pandemic in 2019.
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