Tesco chief executive’s early windfall

TESCO’S new boss was paid £4.1million for six months’ work, it emerged yesterday.

Dave Lewis earned £570,000 in salary from his first day on September 1 to the end of February.

He also got £ 143,000 towards his pension and nearly £ 100,000 worth of perks – including £65,000 for legal fees and £15,000 for “security”.

But the big windfall came with £3.3million of Tesco shares to compensate him for stock he forfeited when he left Unilever.

The bumper total equates to £22,000 for every day over the six months.

And he wasn’t alone – finance chief Alan Stewart, who started in October, earned £ 2.3mil lion in five months.

Again, the biggest boost came from a near £1.9million share “buyout” after he was poached from Marks & Spencer, Tesco’s annual report revealed.

While the sums are staggering, the dynamic duo have a tough task turning round Britain’s biggest supermarket.

Last month, Tesco announced one of the biggest losses in corporate history after plunging £6.4billion into the red last year. The chain have been battered by cut-throat competition, deflation and a £263million accounting scandal.

Lewis has already lived up his “Drastic Dave” nickname, earned while at Unilever, by closing stores, scrapping plans for others and slashing product lines.

Philip Clarke, Lewis’s predecessor, has been accused of making bad decisions while in charge.

But that didn’t stop Tesco handing him a £1.2million pay-off – on top of £764,000 in salary until mid-January.

Clarke, 54, also took a £13.6million pension pot, a 10 per cent staff discount for life and £75,000 to help him find a new job.

However, Tesco could claw back the exit payment if they find there was gross misconduct following the discovery of the accounting black hole.