UPDATE 3-Stellantis chief's annual pay package jumps 56% to $39.5 mln
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Tavares received 23.5 mln euros in cash and vested equity
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Payments include 10 mln euro transformation bonus
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Package also includes 13 mln euro deferred incentive
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Average employee earnings were 70,404 euros, up 9.4%
(Adds context and share price in paragraphs 4 and 6)
Feb 22 (Reuters) - Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares received a 56% boost in total compensation to 36.49 million euros ($39.5 million) in 2023, the Franco-Italian automaker said on Thursday.
Tavares received 23.47 million euros in cash and vested equity last year, including a 10 million euro transformation incentive to meet milestones tied to challenges the industry is facing on global mobility, technology and electric vehicles.
His package also includes 13 billion euros in long-term incentives linked to specific performance targets, which might not be achieved and result in full payment.
Stellantis shareholders' non-binding vote on executive remuneration last year approved the 23.5 million euro 2022 package for Tavares after rejecting his compensation the previous year.
Stellantis, which owns brands including Chrysler, Jeep and Fiat, said it led the industry in financial performance in the first half of 2023 and that its share price has outperformed the automotive industry and S&P 500 index by a significant margin since the company's inception in 2021.
The group's Milan-listed shares hit a record high on Friday at 24.56 euros, having gained about 70% in the past nine months. By 1132 GMT the shares were up 1.2% at 24.51 euros.
During last year's talks with the Detroit Three automakers, the United Auto Workers union was highly critical of the level of pay received by the chief executives of General Motors , Ford Motor and Stellantis.
Ford and GM have not yet disclosed CEO pay for 2023. In 2022 GM's Mary Barra received $29 million in total compensation while Ford boss Jim Farley received nearly $21 million.
After targeted strikes at the three automakers, the UAW's deals for its members secured an immediate 11% pay rise and 25% increase in base wages through 2028. The union also negotiated a reduction in the time it takes workers to reach top pay, to three years from eight. Temporary workers, meanwhile, are to be made permanent and receive a 150% pay rise.
Stellantis said that its employees earned an average of 70,404 euros in 2023, up 9.4% from 2022. Tavares' total compensation was 518 times that, a significant increase from the ratio in 2022.
Stellantis said the higher ratio was because of the impact of a one-off payment relating to a long-term incentive for 2021-2025.
Stellantis said its global workforce shrank by 5.2% in 2023 to a little more than 258,000, with its North American workforce dropping to 81,341 employees last year from 88,835 in 2022.
(Reporting by David Shepardson Additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari Editing by Chris Reese, Jamie Freed and David Goodman)
