Europe 1 with AFP 11:15 am, March 17, 2023

While TotalEnergies was strongly criticized by its own employees for salaries that were too low compared to the missions performed, its Board of Directors announced its desire to increase CEO Patrick Pouyanné's remuneration by 10%. The salaries of the group's executives will also be increased by 7.5%.

The board of directors of TotalEnergies said Thursday that it would propose at the general meeting of shareholders on May 26 a 10% increase in the remuneration of its CEO Patrick Pouyanné, under fire last year for his statements on his salary. The board will submit a motion providing that "the remuneration and allocation of performance shares for 2023 are proposed to increase by 10% compared to 2022," according to a statement from the group on the convening of this general meeting.

This is an "increase equivalent to that enjoyed on average by the executives of the common social base in France," said the group. The increase comes on the one hand from the 10% increase in salary, on the variable part - the fixed remuneration of 1.5 million euros does not change; and on the other hand the 10% increase in the number of performance shares, told AFP a source at TotalEnergies.

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Executive salaries increased by 7.5%

The group's executives benefit from a 7.5% increase in salary and 15% in the variable and bonus portion, or on average nearly 10%, says the company. The budget for the number of performance shares awarded to non-executive executives also increased by 10%, the group said. The total compensation of the CEO in 2022 has not yet been published. In 2021, Mr. Pouyanné's remuneration had increased by 51.7%, to 5,944,129 euros - an amount at the heart of a controversy in the autumn, in the midst of a wage dispute in the group's refineries.

This increase followed a 36.4% decrease in his remuneration in 2020, as a result of a salary cut then presented as "voluntary" during the health crisis and the decline in the variable part of his salary that year linked to the group's results. In 2019, the year before the pandemic, it amounted to €6.15 million.

"It is not me who sets my remuneration, but the board of directors of TotalEnergies who sets it and the shareholders who approve it - it is certainly high, but comparable to my peers in the CAC40 and much lower than that of other European and American majors" in the petrochemical sector, defended the CEO on Twitter.