Nearly a third of shareholders rebel against Zoopla boss’s £62m incentive scheme

| Neil Gerrard

Almost a third of ZPG’s shareholders voted against a lucrative incentive scheme designed to keep chief executive and founder Alex Chesterman in his post until at least 2021.

Under what ZPG calls its Value Creation Plan (VCP), Chesterman will reportedly be able to earn as much as £62m over the next four years if he can deliver 20% growth in ZPG’s annual share price.

The scheme was originally devised two years ago to persuade Zoopla’s founder – described as ‘unique’ yesterday – not to leave the business before 2019.

The board yesterday asked shareholders to approve a revised remuneration policy that extends that plan for another two years.

At ZPG’s AGM yesterday, a majority of just over 68% voted in favour, but this was against what has been described as a “significant minority” of nearly 32%.

There was a similarly strong rebellion against approving the directors’ remuneration report for the year ended September 30, 2017.

Nearly 26% of shareholders voted against the plan, which gives Chesterman £1.7m worth of salary, bonuses and incentives.

ZPG remuneration committee chair, Sherry Coutu, said it was the committee’s “initial understanding” that some shareholders objected to chief finance officer Andy Botha receiving a pay rise of 16.4%.

She said: “The committee will engage with dissenting shareholders to discuss their concerns.”

On the decision to approve the incentive plan for Chesterman, she said: “The feedback from the consultation with shareholders prior to the AGM notice being published demonstrated strong support from the company’s top shareholders.

“The remuneration committee, through the extensive shareholder consultation exercise, knows why certain shareholders voted against the resolutions.

“The principal reason was that some shareholders disagreed with the remuneration committee’s view that the maximum potential opportunity under the extended VCP was necessary to incentivise and retain the company’s unique CEO and some disagreed with the VCP structure as a matter of principle.

“The remuneration committee will re-engage with dissenting shareholders to discuss further their concerns and explore how in operating the VCP they may be addressed, whilst not prejudicing the success of the company or jeopardising the majority shareholder view.”

Meanwhile, nearly all shareholders (99.7%) yesterday voted through the election of Lord Rothermere as a director of the company.

Rothermere is the chairman of Daily Mail owner DMGT, which currently has a 30% stake in ZPG. His appointment to one of the two seats that DGMT has on the board of ZPG was originally announced last month when it was revealed that he would replace Kevin Beatty.

 

x

Email the story to a friend!

More top news stories



21 Comments

  1. GPL
    January 31, 2018 at 07:01

    Laughable! …..and there are people sleeping on the streets Mr Chesterman. 

    Report
    1. RealAgent
      January 31, 2018 at 07:58

      What a totally pointless and pathetically envious comment to make.

      I have no love for Zoopla but even I understand that he will be paying at least £20,000,000 in tax on that amount, which goes into the treasury and could be designated to the “homeless”

      My guess is his monetary contribution to society somewhat eclipses yours!

      Report
      1. davehedgehog
        January 31, 2018 at 08:22

        Or to politicians expense accounts!!

         

        Report
        1. Robert May
          January 31, 2018 at 08:40

          I’m not sure Ros needs the sort of kerfuffle a comment like that could lead to

          Report
      2. GPL
        January 31, 2018 at 09:30

        Get Real! RealAgent

        No one is worth a 62 Million Incentive Package.

        ….and over the years …me taking a Homeless Person into McDonalds and buying them a burger & a cuppa ….. Those seeking tens of £Millions in “Incentives” will of course be able to do that several million times over?! ….and that’s great. Or maybe just the ordinary folk should help those less fortunate?

        There are the Underpaid, Fairly Paid, Well Paid, Overpaid and then the Filthy Sticking Rich Paid….. I have no political slant whatsover however absolutely no one deserves a 62 Million Pound incentive, not Mr Chesterman, not anyone, in my humble opinion, and today it just happens to be his name in the frame and the amount of money he feels he deserves as an “Incentive?!”.

        We can look at Footballers Wages? ….Utter Madness! …..we can look at Tax Arrangements of the FSRP and ….if Mr Chesterman is paying 20 Million Pounds in tax I would doff my Hovis Boy Hat that he stands out as a shining example versus those that creatively manage their tax affairs.

        Getting back to the story RealAgent…. 32% of Zpla Shareholders seem to agree that 62 Million is bang out of order.

        ….and finally RealAgent, the size of Monetary Contribution doesn’t make a person, their Contribution to the wellbeing of Society is a measure that has no limits. A timely reminder for us all whilst we reflect on the merits of a 62 £Million Incentive Package!!!

         

        Report
        1. Peter
          January 31, 2018 at 09:38

          I will take £62m if offered. Wouldn’t you GPL? Think of all the good you could do.

          Report
          1. P-Daddy
            January 31, 2018 at 09:53

            That’s only £42m more than Ian Springett 🙂

            Report
          2. GPL
            January 31, 2018 at 09:54

            How one “earns” one’s money is personally important to me Peter. I would be wealthier if I had taken the dubious “incentives” offered to me however integrity matters more to me.
            Each to their own, I comment as I see it and respond if required. 
            If you are given 62 £Million Peter then enjoy some and spread the charitable/financial love.

            Report
            1. Peter
              January 31, 2018 at 10:10

              Given! Although I completely disagree that share price preformance be used as a basis for emoluments, it is though earned not given.

              Report
        2. EastStainesMassiv
          January 31, 2018 at 10:13

          “No one is worth a 62 million incentive package”

           

          Tell that to Elon Musk who has an even better package.

           

          News from a source you trust :http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5302061/Huge-pay-package-Musk-Tesla-ambitious-goals.html

           

          Report
  2. Robert May
    January 31, 2018 at 07:59

    Err given  he is sat on an empire of legacy software with GDPR about to drive a coach and horses through every BIG data project, they probably ought to be paying him that if he can maintain the share price.

     

    Report
    1. Anonymous Coward
      January 31, 2018 at 14:26

      Perfect excuse to sell their existing customers new shiny software at a considerable premium to comply with GDPR because the customer will be breaking the law otherwise.
      “Don’t worry, we’ll port the data across for you no trouble and even give you a discount on training fees…”

      Report
  3. mattstephens38
    January 31, 2018 at 09:09

    Are the rest of the minions in the zoopla empire also getting double digit pay rises?

    Report
  4. Woodentop
    January 31, 2018 at 09:29

    Is he really worth it? There are plenty of other capable people who would love the opportunity, ask Donal Trump.

    Report
    1. ARC
      January 31, 2018 at 09:51

      Is The President’s Irish cousin a property software mogul then?

      Report
  5. P-Daddy
    January 31, 2018 at 09:51

    Donal Trump…is that the Presidents Irish cousin Woodentop…

    I know, don’t give up the day job!

    Report
    1. ARC
      January 31, 2018 at 09:56

      Great minds ……..

      Report
  6. s71
    January 31, 2018 at 11:39

    Just a thought came to my mind, that if Alex Chesterman will be paying £20,000,000 in tax as per real agents calculation , then he would have paid more tax then Amazon or Starbuck or ebay!!!!!

     

    Report
  7. PaulWilson32
    January 31, 2018 at 13:34

    £62m incentive to simply do their job is outrageous. Many people out there increase their company’s worth by greater than 20% and receive far less. I count myself in the.. significant minority

    Report
  8. Anonymous Coward
    January 31, 2018 at 14:24

    Hey gang…

    Quick question for you…

    Guess how one guy can quickly push up the share price of the company that he works for in just 3 years…

     

    Go on… Guess!

     

    They own the number 2 property portal – fee increase.

    They own a considerable percentage of PropTech in the UK – fee increase…

    They own a Comparison Website – fee increase…

    They have some seriously big data

     

    Now, if you know you’ll be out of the job let’s say, early 2022, then I bet you don’t give a flying f**k about the long term consequences.

    Just look at Carillion!

    Report
    1. AgentV
      January 31, 2018 at 18:53

      All good points….but what if something is coming to put a severe dent in the portals?

      BSOS23PC

      Report
X

You must be logged in to report this comment!

Log In Register

Back to Homepage

Comments are closed.

Thank you for signing up to our newsletter, we have sent you an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Additionally if you would like to create a free EYE account which allows you to comment on news stories and manage your email subscriptions please enter a password below.