Shell boss Ben van Beurden risks new pay row after £17.8m bonanza

Royal Dutch Shell more than doubled chief executive Ben van Beurden’s pay last year to a whopping €20.1 million (£17.8 million), putting the oil major on course for a fresh high-pay row.

The FTSE 100 giant, which has forked out nearly €70 million to van Beurden since he took charge five years ago, made the payout after a long-term shares award given in 2016 triggered a one-off €15.2 million share windfall.

Last year the shares award was €4 million. The colossal figure, the second-highest after a €24.2 million payday for van Beurden in 2014, risks prompting another round of shareholder angst.

Around a quarter of Shell shareholders voted against its remuneration report last time, which the oil group described as “hugely disappointing”.

Luke Hildyard, director at the High Pay Centre, said Shell epitomised the “warped corporate culture” of modern big business.

“The bulk of this package results from very high incentive payments, which have decreasing credibility with pay experts,” he said.

“The company will argue that the payout is a result of good performance, but it’s ludicrous to think that the CEo wouldn’t have bothered to show up without the prospect of huge incentives,” he added.

Shell tried to dampen the controversy today saying it had “acted carefully” in managing van Beurden’s pay as CEO.

The remuneration committee, chaired by Gerard Kleisterlee, said it was “sensitive to the wider societal discussions” around pay and “spent a significant amount of time discussing the high single figure for the chief executive in 2018”.

It added that variable pay rules were broadly unchanged over the past 10 years but acknowledged the payout was “significantly higher” than in prior years.