Shell CEO Pay Almost Halves in 2020

Royal Dutch Shell plc’s (NYSE: RDS.A) chief executive officer (CEO), Ben van Beurden, saw his pay almost halve last year, the company’s latest Form 20-F has revealed.

According to the document, van Beurden’s single total figure of remuneration was $6.9 million (EUR 5,841,000) in 2020, which marked a 42 percent drop from 2019’s figure of $11.8 million (EUR 9,963,000). Back in 2018, van Beurden’s single total figure of remuneration was $24 million (EUR 20,138,000), in 2017 it was $10.6 million (EUR 8,909,000), in 2016 it was $10.2 million (EUR 8,593,000), in 2015 it was $6.6 million (EUR 5,576,000), and in 2014, the year in which van Beurden first took on the job, the figure was $28.8 million (EUR 24,198,000).

Van Beurden’s single total figure of remuneration for 2014 was impacted by an increase in pension accrual ($12.7 million (EUR 10.695 million)) calculated under the UK reporting regulations and tax equalization ($9.4 million (EUR 7.905 million)) as a result of his promotion and prior assignment to the UK, Shell’s Form 20-F notes. Shell’s CEO first joined the company back in 1983 and has previously served as its downstream director, executive vice president of chemicals, and in a number of operational and commercial roles in upstream and downstream.

Last year, Shell took decisive action to maintain its financial resilience in 2020 in the “unprecedented” circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the company outlined in its latest Form 20-F. Shell noted that van Beurden led plans for a strategic reorganization, due to take effect in August 2021, which aims at setting up Shell to succeed in the energy transition by making the business nimbler and better able to respond to customers.

Shell reported revenues of $180.5 billion and a loss of $21.5 billion for 2020. In 2019, the company registered revenues of $344.8 billion and an income of $16.4 billion. In 2018, Shell’s revenues stood at $388.3 billion and its income was $23.9 billion. In 2020, Shell reduced its dividend per share to 0.65, after years of maintaining the figure at 1.88.

Formed in 1907, Shell is one of the biggest energy companies in the world. The business has more than 80,000 employees in more than 70 countries, according to its website.

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