AstraZeneca’s shareholders rebel over pay
Shareholders in AstraZeneca have rebelled over proposals to raise bonus levels for its bosses.


Drug giant AstraZeneca has suffered a “major shareholder rebellion” over proposals to raise bonus levels for its bosses, including CEO Pascal Soriot (pictured), says Julia Bradshaw in The Daily Telegraph. While the proposals were passed, over 40% of AstraZeneca’s investors voted against them.
Soriot’s possible earnings have now climbed from 650% of his salary to 900% in just two years. The reason the revolt went as far as it did was due to opposition from Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), which advises 4,000 clients on how they should vote, says Oliver Shah in the Sunday Times. However, while the likes of ISS can be useful in fighting “egregious bonuses”, such as those at floundering Cineworld, their “box-ticking” is unfair for Soriot, one of the few “world-class chief executives in the FTSE 100”. AstraZeneca’s share price has increased by 80% since he took over and it has developed a Covid-19 vaccine with Oxford, so“if anyone deserves a pay rise, it is Soriot”.
Soriot is a “talented chief” whose performance “actually lives up to the multimillion-pound billing” and his pay isn’t excessive compared with his contemporaries at Roche or Pfizer, says Helen Thomas in the Financial Times. Still, investors rightly worry that the dynamic in the AstraZeneca boardroom has “tipped” in favour of its “superstar boss”, who is now “being feted as the saviour of the UK’s health and economy”. The increased size and complexity that AstraZeneca is taking on with its $39bn takeover of Alexion, which shareholders also approved at the meeting, could prompt Soriot to demand even more money in future.
Subscribe to MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.
He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.
Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.
As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.
Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri
-
HMRC savings tax crackdown: More workers to pay tax directly from their wages
Banks and building societies will be required to obtain National Insurance numbers from savers to make it easier for HMRC to tax those who breach their personal savings allowance
-
It’s time to start backing the UK stock market
The UK stock market has been languishing for decades. But the tide is turning and smart investors should buy in now
-
Global equities that should prove resilient to the stock market’s storms
Opinion Alex Illingworth of Goshawk Asset Management highlights three diverse opportunities in global equities despite a turbulent landscape
-
US stocks are more expensive than ever after Trump's tariffs
We don’t need to second-guess the effect of Trump's tariffs to think that the rest of the world offers better value
-
How to use SAYE and SIP schemes to multiply your money
Employers’ savings or share-incentive plans like SAYE and SIP schemes can help top up your pension
-
Where investors can find value now
Opinion Active fund managers and blue chips on both sides of the Atlantic look appealing, says ByteTree’s Charlie Morris
-
UK equities: where to find a great British bargain
UK equities are staging a comeback, but there’s still plenty of value out there, says Rupert Hargreaves
-
Just Group has the wind behind it – should you invest?
Just Group, a retirement products provider, is well placed to profit from a growing annuity market
-
Personal Assets Trust: a fund to protect your wealth
Personal Assets Trust aims to shelter its shareholders’ assets from volatile markets
-
Britain’s fallen stars: a second chance for quality stocks
Quality stocks in the UK saw share prices collapse in the wake of Covid. That has created an opportunity for smart public investors — and private buyers