[danielf]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

There's plenty wrong with them if it's all done by cronieism and not by results.

Or even for not doing any work for the competition.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...78m-golden-gag

Shareholder activism over corporate pay has claimed one of its biggest victories yet after the Swiss pharmaceutical group Novartis was forced to abandon the award of a $78m "golden gag" non-compete payment to its outgoing chairman.

The UK investor advisory body, Pirc, said the move could inspire a repeat of last year's "shareholder spring" when a series of rebellions over pay forced out the chief executives of Aviva, AstraZeneca and Trinity Mirror.

Shareholders in Novartis reacted with fury over the weekend when it emerged that Daniel Vasella was to receive the payment – $13m a year over six years – to prevent him from giving advice to competitors after he steps down from the board this week. Vasella's attempt to deflect their anger by pledging to give some of the money away to philanthropic causes was unsuccessful, as investor anger became amplified by criticism from the Swiss public. On Tuesday, the company said the board of directors and Vasella had agreed to cancel the non-compete agreement in the light of the furious response.

£13million a year over 6 years for doing nothing. Nice work if you can get it.