The CEO of Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, has secured a bonus worth more than €100 million. It will be one of the biggest bonuses in European corporate history.
One of the conditions for the bonus to be paid is the company’s share price rising. The airline’s share price has exceeded €21 and remained above that level for 28 days since May 2. However, another condition has not yet been met – O’Leary must remain at the helm of the company until July 2028. He has held the position since 1994.
The bonus scheme provides for an option to purchase 10 million Ryanair shares at a price of €11.1 each – significantly below the current market value of €23.7. If this deal is completed, O’Leary will add over 100 million euros to his fortune. At current prices, the value of the package of 44 million shares he already owns exceeds 1 billion euros.
The conditions for this bonus were set by Ryanair shareholders back in 2019, and even then nearly half of them spoke out against such high remuneration.
Many investors and activists criticize such huge bonuses for the heads of large corporations. Luke Hildyard, director of the High Pay Centre, which fights against excessive remuneration of corporate leaders, said that this bonus for the already billionaire O’Leary is excessive, morally dubious and practically ineffective.
According to High Pay Centre data, recently the remuneration of CEOs of leading British companies has been growing faster than that of their American colleagues.
Illustrative Photo by Marc Linder: https://www.pexels.com/photo/rynair-commercial-airplane-731281/
