Glencore director pay slides from $2.2m to $357k

Commodities giant Glencore is known for offering extravagant pay packets to its staff and executives, which until its 2011 public listing were paid out behind closed doors. Despite a difficult year in 2012, its executive suite still took home seven figures.

Within its UK operation, however, this generosity has gone AWOL. In 2011, Glencore’s best paid director received $2.2m in remuneration. Last year, he received the merest $357k – or just 17% of the previous year’s payout. This is probably Alex Beard, its highest ranking UK executive who also has responsibility for the firm’s worldwide oil operations. He’s worth $2.1bn, as at March 2013.

In total, the firm put aside $664k for its UK directors, compared to $3.1m in 2011.

The reasons are obvious: Glencore UK posted a profit of $44.7m in 2011, a figure that shrunk to $12.5m during 2012, and the senior ranks have taken a hit in their pockets as a result.

However, it’s still rewarding its staff lower down the career ladder. Its 316 UK-based employees shared $61m in 2012 – broadly in line with the previous year – or an average of $193.1k per head. Of these employees, though, 106 work in administrative functions, suggesting the remaining 210 staff in ‘service activities’ will have received the majority of the pay pool.

Glencore’s 2011 listing created a number of overnight billionaires, with its chief executive Ivan Glasenburg’s 15% stake netting around $10bn and Dan Francisco Mate Badenes receiving around $2.2bn post-IPO.