Renault drops $12.4M payout to Ghosn

Renault SA plans to scrap a golden parachute of about $12.4 million for jailed former chief Carlos Ghosn, avoiding a politically explosive payout at a time of yellow vest protests across France.

Ghosn won’t benefit from a noncompete agreement that would have paid him two years’ compensation, the automaker said Wednesday. Renault also plans to withhold stock-based pay awarded from 2015 to 2018 that was conditional on his staying at the company.

Until his Nov. 19 arrest on allegations of financial misconduct, the jet-setting executive led an automotive empire that stretched around the globe. He ran not only Renault as chairman and chief executive officer, but also served as chairman at Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., its alliance partners. He quit Renault last month.

The noncompete pact would have been worth upwards of $5.6 million, while 100,000 performance-related shares granted in 2015 that would have vested this week have a current market value of about $6.4 million. He would also have been entitled to millions in additional shares in the future had he remained at the company.

Questions over his compensation at Nissan led to his fall from grace. After a months-long internal investigation that was kept from Renault, the Japanese company alleged that he had understated his income for several years. He was arrested in Tokyo and has been in custody ever since. Ghosn has denied wrongdoing.