Burberry shareholders rebel against CEO pay

 watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS3DpTHepnw

Shareholders from the British fashion house Burberry are up in arms about a proposed pay package for its CEO. They rejected a resolution at the company's annual general meeting to provide newly-appointed CEO Christopher Bailey with a multi-million-dollar remuneration deal. The vote was 52.7 per cent against the resolution. Executives proposed to hand Mr Bailey a $12.3 million "golden hello", an annual salary of up to $17 million and shares worth up to $33 million by 2018. The share package has been called a "golden handcuffs" arrangement to stop him from joining a rival company in the next few years. He will also receive add-ons for pensions and performance bonuses.

Burberry chairman Sir John Peace defended the package. He said he was "disappointed" and would talk to shareholders. He said: "I want to understand why they felt so strongly to vote against." He said the packages for Bailey and his predecessor Angela Ahrendts were to keep "world-class executives" at the company. Under Ms Ahrendts' guidance between 2006 and 2014, the company's sales increased to over $3.4 billion, and shares gained more than threefold to $12 billion. Peace pointed out that many companies around the world would be willing to pay Mr Bailey a lot more. He added that Bailey was "worth every penny". Bailey joined Burberry in 2001 as Design Director and became Creative Director in 2004.

1. PAY: What should the rules be? Complete this table.

 

Rules

Salary

 

Overtime

 

Pension

 

Performance

 

Shares

 

Golden hello

 

2.Company CEO:

What kind of work does a CEO of a company do.

What CEO do you admire the most and why?

Is there a CEO that you loathe and why?

3. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.

up in arms

a.

chosen

2.

rejected

b.

went on to say

3.

appointed

c.

justified

4.

annual

d.

turned down

5.

rival

e.

grew

6.

defended

f.

competitor

7.

guidance

g.

angry

8.

increased

h.

prepared

9.

willing

i.

direction

10.

added

j.

yearly

4.ROLE PLAY

Role  A – Company CEO

You think a company CEO should get the highest salary. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs shouldn't get the highest salary.

Role  B – Soldier

You think a soldier should get the highest salary. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs shouldn't get the highest salary.

Role  C – Doctor

You think a doctor should get the highest salary. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs shouldn't get the highest salary.

Role  D – Sports Star

You think a sports star should get the highest salary. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs shouldn't get the highest salary .

Role E – Real Estate Agent

You think a sports star should get the highest salary. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs shouldn't get the highest salary .

Role F - Miner

You think a miner should get the highest salary. Tell the others three reasons why. Tell them why their jobs shouldn't get the highest salary .

5.CEO PAY DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS 

a)

What did you think when you read the headline?

b)

What springs to mind when you hear the word 'pay'?

c)

What do you think of a CEO getting a $17 million salary?

d)

Should CEO's get more pay than people who risk their lives?

e)

Should shareholders be able to block proposals from directors?

f)

What do you think of "golden" hellos, goodbyes and handcuffs?

g)

What makes a good CEO?

h)

How to people become CEOs?

i)

Do you think you would be a good CEO?

j)

What do you think of Burberry?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS 

a)

Did you like reading this article? Why/not?

b)

Would you vote for or against the remuneration package?

c)

Is it good business to pay top-quality CEOs lots of money?

d)

What positions should be paid more than company CEOs?

e)

Should CEOs get more if they add billions to their company's value?

f)

How much are you worth as a worker?

g)

Are you "worth every penny"?

h)

How does your performance compare to your colleagues'?

i)

How many bags does Burberry have to sell to pay Mr Bailey?

j)

What questions would you like to ask Burberry's chairman?

6.SPELLING

Paragraph 1

1.

a proposed pay ecaakgp

2.

They rejected the rsiunoeolt

3.

newly-doinaptep CEO

4.

a multi-million-dollar truironeemna deal

5.

a "golden handcuffs" aranteemgnr

6.

performance oesnsbu

Paragraph 2

7.

He said he was "ipapdediotsn"

8.

Bailey and his rocsedrepes Angela Ahrendts

9.

world-class etiecvxuse

10.

Under Ms Ahrendts' iadngeuc

11.

gained more than lfroedteh to $12 billion

12.

joined Burberry in 2001 as design driretoc

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

EU angers UK by calling Gibraltar a 'colony'

Watch:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfrWWQ4Kfy8   The United Kingdom has objected to the European Union's use of the word "colony" to describe the island of Gibraltar. The European Council (a body that defines the EU's political direction) produced a document regarding UK nationals travelling to the EU after Brexit. It says in a footnote: "Gibraltar is a colony of the British Crown. There is a controversy between Spain and the UK concerning the sovereignty over Gibraltar, a territory for which a solution has to be reached." A UK government spokesperson said: "Gibraltar is not a colony and it is completely inappropriate to describe it in this way. She added: "Gibraltar is a full part of the UK family....This will not change due to our exit from the EU." Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Morocco. It is home to over 30,000 people. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured it from Spa...
Read more

The best companies to work for

  The best companies to work for    A new report has identified the top 25 companies in the USA to work for. The report comes out every year and always has some surprises. It ranked the best places to work in 2014 by taking a survey of employee satisfaction. Top of the list was Google, which has become famous for its excellent working conditions. Google knocked Facebook off of the number one position. A Google software engineer earns an average salary of $119,000 a year. He or she also gets free access to a gym, laundromat, sports facilities and a place which looks after their pets when the employee goes on holiday. One ex-employee said Google staff are so happy that it is unusual for anyone to take time off. Another survey released at the same time shows a slightly different picture. The careers website Glassdoor asked employees to rate how happy they are with their company, career opportunities, pay, culture, and values. It found that the consulting firm Bain and Co...
Read more

Zohran Mamdani is Elected Mayor of NYC (November 2025)

 Watch :  https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pUFn8fU0d0c In 2025, New York City experienced a historic political shift . Zohran Mamdani , a 34-year-old from Queens, became the 111th mayor of the city—and the youngest in over a century. Born in Uganda and raised in New York since the age of seven, Mamdani also made history as the first Muslim and first South Asian to be elected as mayor of New York City. He is the son of Oscar nominated filmmaker Mira Nair and academic Mahmood Mamdani. He moved from Uganda to New York City at age seven . He was naturalized as an American citizen in 2018 and is married to Syrian artist Rama Duwaji.    His election symbolizes a big change in the politics of the city, reflecting the voices of younger, diverse, and working-class New Yorkers. His grassroots campaign grew from small neighborhood meetings and online organizing into a powerful movement, attracting thousands of volunteers and record voter turnout. Mamdani describes hi...
Read more