Xero shareholders reject executive pay report
Xero shareholders voted against the company's remuneration report, expressing dissatisfaction with executive pay increases despite a significant decline in share price. While the vote is non-binding, it signals strong investor frustration regarding the alignment of executive incentives with performance.
Why it matters
This event highlights the growing trend of shareholder activism regarding executive compensation and corporate governance in the tech sector.
Xero's shareholders have delivered a stinging rebuke to its board, with more than 70 percent voting against the remuneration report at its annual shareholder meeting.
The remuneration report is the section of a company's annual report explaining how its directors and senior executives were paid, and why, including salaries, bonuses and share-based incentives.
It follows controversy over a revised remuneration structure for chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, lifting her target total remuneration from US$15.2 million to US$18.5 million.
Xero's share price has roughly halved over the past year, despite a strong operational performance, while Singh Cassidy recently sold the remainder of her direct shareholding, worth about US$1.9 million, which the company said was to meet personal tax obligations.
Xero said she continued to hold about 586,000 restricted stock units already granted under time-based and performance-based schemes.
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