Ghosn set to lose €11m golden parachute

PARIS: Renault SA plans to scrap a golden parachute of about €11 million (RM50.34 million) for jailed former chief Carlos Ghosn, avoiding a politically explosive payout for the car titan who named new defence lawyers in Tokyo.

Ghosn wouldn’t benefit from a non-compete agreement that would have paid him two years’ compensation, said the carmaker. It also plans to withhold stockbased pay awarded from 2015 to last year that was conditional on his staying at the company.

The non-compete pact would have been worth upwards of €5 million, while 100,000 performance-related shares granted in 2015 that would have vested this week have a current market value of about €5.7 million. He would also have been entitled to millions of euros worth of additional shares in the future had he remained at the company.

The board said it would decide next month on Ghosn’s remuneration for last year.

On Wednesday, Ghosn changed his legal team, hiring Junichiro Hironaka to help him with the “trial phase” of his case. The previous lawyers failed to win bail for Ghosn as he awaits a trial.