Stellantis investors back CEO’s $39M pay package

Stellantis NV shareholders cleared the way to make Carlos Tavares the highest paid chief executive officer among traditional car manufacturers, as the Jeep maker pursues deep job cuts and tough savings goals in the EV transition.

Investors on Tuesday voted 70% in favor of his €36.5 million ($39 million) total compensation package in a non-binding vote, rejecting pleas from advisory firms Glass Lewis, Proxinvest and Institutional Shareholder Services to vote against the pay plan.

Tavares’ total compensation, up almost 60% from 2022 levels, includes a new incentive award worth €10 million tied to meeting electrification and software goals, at a time Stellantis is coming under increased scrutiny in Italy and the US due to ongoing job cuts. Two years ago, investors rejected his remuneration plan in a non-binding vote after opposition in France; they voted 80% in favor last year.

In Italy, the company has been mired for weeks in a controversy with Prime

Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government over plans to reduce headcount and shift production of electric vehicles to lower-cost countries such as Poland. Stellantis and other mass-market carmakers including Renault SA and Volkswagen AG are struggling to profitably make affordable EVs, which is crucial to compete with Chinese rivals and help reignite slowing EV uptake.

Last week, thousands of Italians joined striking workers near the carmaker’s base in northern Italy. Stellantis is targeting reduction of its Italy workforce by 8%, or roughly 3,700 positions, according to the Fiom labor union. In the US, the company has initiated the termination of thousands of supplemental employees in Detroit, Toledo, Ohio, and is eliminating more positions in France, according to local unions.

ISS noted that Stellantis executives enjoy “generous” benefits including personal use of corporate aircraft for the executive chair John Elkann, while CEO Tavares profits from tax equalization “without clear disclosure.”