James Moore: How poor-performing execs get away with it
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Outlook Which one was worse? Andrew Moss and his One Aviva, Twice the Value campaign, which should have been named One Aviva, Half the Value but introduced yet another bonus scheme for the insurer's executives all the same? Or AstraZeneca's David Brennan whose bonuses sometimes seemed to be paid in inverse proportion to the group's dwindling supply of new drugs? That might be a bit of an exaggeration. But like Mr Moss, he got rich while his shareholders stayed poor.
Yet remarkably few of those shareholders actually voted against either of them when it came to their respective companies' annual meetings (4.6 per cent in Mr Moss's case, 1.6 per cent in Mr Brennan's).
Big fund managers privately say they achieved their aims by agitating privately, which led both men to quit. Why not allow them a dignified exit? Move along, nothing to see here. Trouble is, one might ask why either deserved what in effect amounts to a pat on the back (95 and 98 per cent support) for doing a rotten job.
This sort of thing is what allows executives to get away with poor performance for so long, and allows non-executive directors to sit on their hands while it happens. They know they will never personally be held to account because – as the corporate governance watchdog Pirc has noted – when push comes to shove, the City's silent assassins prefer to keep things quiet.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments