PARIS -Kering will propose a 20 million euros ($22.89 million) signing-on bonus for its new CEO Luca de Meo, adding to an overall annual salary of close to 9 million euros ($10.29 million) and up to 150% the same amount in shares, depending on performance.
In filings made ahead of its September 9 shareholder meeting to formalise de Meo’s appointment, Kering said it would propose that the Italian a fixed income of 2.2 million euros and a variable income of up to 6.6 million euros depending on performance.
Kering also plans to pay de Meo performance shares worth 150% of his annual remuneration, fixed and variable, it added in the regulatory filings published late on Wednesday, bringing the potential maximum annual pay to more than 20 million euros.
De Meo, who was hired from Renault, last had a total annual salary of 12.9 million euros, according to Renault’s 2024 annual report.
In return, Kering’s chairman and outgoing chief executive Francois-Henri Pinault will take a pay cut to 700,000 euros, from around 4 million euros previously, the firm said.
Pinault, son of founder Francois and CEO of the Paris-listed company, has led Kering since 2005.
Kering’s shares, which had lost over 60% of their value in over two years, have gained 24% since de Meo’s announcement in June.
The 20 million euros sign-on bonus would compensate an estimated, similar amount of longer-term financial benefits lost by de Meo after he decided to leave Renault.
($1 = 0.8747 euros)
(Reporting by Tassilo Hummel;Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)
