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Post boss Frank Appel: top earner among the Dax board members
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Sven Simon / imago images
According to a study, Germany's top managers earned significantly less in the corona crisis year 2020 than in the previous year.
The average salaries of the CEOs of the DAX companies fell by 28 percent to 5.3 million euros (2019: 7.4 million), according to the analysis by the consulting company hkp-Group.
"Never before since the mandatory publication of individual executive board remuneration have we seen such a significant decrease in the average remuneration levels," says Michael Kramarsch from hkp.
According to the calculations, the profits of the stock market heavyweights had slumped by an average of 45 percent in the crisis year.
The top managers had to accept significant cuts in terms of the variable remuneration, which is linked to the company's success.
According to the information, the annual bonuses of the CEOs fell by an average of around 38 percent last year.
The multi-year variable remuneration, which is mostly based on shares, decreased by around 41 percent.
In eight corporations, the CEOs waived part of their remuneration in the crisis year 2020.
According to the study, the top earner was Deutsche Post CEO Frank Appel with ten million euros.
The parcel boom in Corona times gave Deutsche Post DHL the best year in its company's history.
Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, who left the company this year, came in second with 9.3 million euros.
At the lower end of the Dax ranking was the CEO of the Hamburg consumer goods and cosmetics manufacturer Beiersdorf, Stefan De Loecker, with 2.1 million euros.
28 previously published annual reports 2020 from a total of 30 DAX companies were evaluated.
The analysis also takes into account retirement benefits and fringe benefits such as company cars or insurance.
There are various studies with different calculation methods on executive board remuneration.
The results sometimes differ significantly from one another.
mik / dpa
