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$43 Million For 2 Months Of Work: Meet Helge Lund, The Luckiest Man On Earth Today

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Earlier today we suggested that while paying 67x for the BG Group is an exercise in sheer desperation and will cost Shell's shareholders dearly, one group stood to profit handsomely: the bankers who were handed the deal on a silver platter, and who stand to make hundreds of millions in M&A fees without even loading up a merger model: the deal was predetermined from the moment the CEO of Shell called his counterpart at BG

It turns out we were wrong, and there is one person who stand to reap even more massive benefits than the banks who are just there for window dressing.  That person is BG Group's CEO Helge Lund who, according to Bloomberg calculations, stands to pocket as much as $43 million less than two months after joining the company on February 9 from Norway's Statoil.

According to Bloomberg, Lund, is entitled to liquidated damages equal to a year’s gross salary and 30 percent of base pay, the Reading, England-based company’s annual report showed. That could bring his total compensation, including long-term incentive share awards, to as much as 28.8 million pounds ($43 million) by the time the Shell takeover is completed early next year.

It's no surprise then that Lund, who knows his compensation math better than anyone, couldn't wait to tell the Shell CEO on the phone that he'll take the $70 billion offer without hesitation.

The breakdown:

Lund has a base salary of 1.5 million pounds, to which a 30 percent cash payment is added in lieu of a pension, the company said in a Dec. 1 statement. In addition, he can earn as much as twice his salary in short-term annual cash incentives, or 3 million pounds a year.

 

Lund received an initial long-term incentive-plan grant on March 9 of about 4.6 million pounds, BG said in its annual report. His annual LTIP grant, which has a face value of as much as 9 million pounds, is expected to reach 4 million pounds in 2015, BG said in the Dec. 1 statement.

 

In addition, Lund received grants with a face value of about 750,000 pounds on March 9 to compensate for bonuses and share awards foregone when he left Statoil, as well as a one-time relocation allowance of 480,000 pounds.

It costs $720,000 to relocate from Stavanger to London? Leaving that aside, it could have been even more grotesque because Lund rushed into the CEO role three weeks earlier than planned. Had the original timetable been kept, he would have still made $43 million but for just one month's worth of work, not even two!

And the cherry on top is that BG’s initial remuneration offer in October, which would potentially have made Lund Europe’s best-paid oil-industry executive, "was watered down two months later after a shareholder rebellion."

So "watered down" these days means getting only $43 million because some other guy was so desperate he had to mask his own foundering profitability by embarking on an acquisition spree? Let's just agree that someone used the term loosely.

Another way of looking at it is that the platinum parachute is merely the compensatory cheery on top for Lund’s 10 year career at Norway-owned Statoil, where he made far less money.

“The shares Helge has been granted are subject to the performance of BG up to the point of completion of this transaction,” BG spokeswoman Yulia Caris said in an e-mail, referring to Shell’s acquisition of the company. “We have a very clear and rigorous policy, and under that policy this issue will not get assessed until completion. Until that point, we do not know what the amount will be.”

What was left unsaid is that BG's "performance" until the point of completion will be dependent entirely not on the company's actual operating results but whether the ZIRP and/or NIRP environment created by the central banks persists, and whether the bondholders who will end up funding the bulk of the deal are perfectly happy to collect a 3% or so yield in exchange for allowing people like Lund to walk away with tens of millions for doing nothing at all.

"The transaction will take time to complete, during which my team and I will remain committed to BG and our shareholders, and to safely delivering our 2015 business plan," Lund said in a statement.

At that point Lund will will walk out the front door, his bank account having grown by $43 million.

And some dare say there is no wage inflation.

 

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Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:25 | 5973292 BoPeople
BoPeople's picture

For once I would like to see someone who adds value to the world make some money.

Tired of parasites.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:49 | 5973385 Pool Shark
Pool Shark's picture

 

 

Big deal.

Elizabeth Warren got paid $430,000.00 a year to teach ONE CLASS at Harvard.

[No wonder tuition is out of control. Stupid hypocrite...]

 

 

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:12 | 5973454 knukles
knukles's picture

Do you all realize that Helge Lund is Norwegian for Hedge Fund?

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:31 | 5973504 gmrpeabody
gmrpeabody's picture

None of these fukkers are worth the money they are being paid...

Jump, you bloated corporate fukker...

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 12:43 | 5975525 ConfederateH
ConfederateH's picture

I wonder if he will pay the full Norwegian tax rate on that 43m.  That would probably be over 2/3's to the feminazi Norwegian welfare state.

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 02:39 | 5974343 sessinpo
sessinpo's picture

Pool Shark     Big deal.

Elizabeth Warren got paid $430,000.00 a year to teach ONE CLASS at Harvard.

[No wonder tuition is out of control. Stupid hypocrite...]

----

So you think $430k over a year is better then $43 million over 2 months?

 

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:13 | 5973457 Bananamerican
Bananamerican's picture

Naw baby!

43 Million cuz value!

It takes Talent to stand there with your hand open and heft $43 large for doing absolutely jack shit.

Now, pay dat man! LOVE dat man!

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 21:26 | 5973681 Condition 1SQ
Condition 1SQ's picture

Just imagine how much time is wasted globally on "finance" when we could be working on important problems.  Really, how many trillions do we have to spend getting a market that is 0.00001% more efficient?

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 21:41 | 5973726 NotApplicable
NotApplicable's picture

Infinite amounts. (on a long enough timeline)

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 23:11 | 5973975 blowing winter
blowing winter's picture

I'm making over $7k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is what I do... www.globe-report.com

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:27 | 5973299 SolidSnake961
SolidSnake961's picture

platinum parachute ready- make me ceo for just 1 day

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:30 | 5973309 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

Now there is a man who knows where his ZIRP is buttered.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:36 | 5973331 Fun Facts
Fun Facts's picture

This is illustrative of the inequitable and duplicitous system of money we all endure.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:38 | 5973342 tahoebumsmith
tahoebumsmith's picture

Pretty simple to figure out... Do what the cephalopod says, take your cut and STFU and disappear into the sunset just like all the rest

 

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:40 | 5973347 Omen IV
Omen IV's picture

this is one of the dumbest deals on record - The bet: will go down equal to AOL / TW - with the clown Jerry Levin - a moron for the ages as the worst deal

LNG delivery will have major distruption in Japan / Korea / China / elsewhere as the Russian Bear runs pipelines south from North Korea - same with EU  and elsewhere

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:40 | 5973348 A Lunatic
A Lunatic's picture

Too bad he'll only get 43 million of that after taxes.....

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:40 | 5973350 Not Goldman Sachs
Not Goldman Sachs's picture

All ceo's are worth what they get...just ask them ( and the board of cronies). I gotta go take a trickle-down. Market factors bitches.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:42 | 5973352 Equality 7-25-1
Equality 7-25-1's picture

Great. Now he can afford a decent haircut... and a personal trainer.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:42 | 5973358 RaceToTheBottom
RaceToTheBottom's picture

No wonder he showed up three weeks early.  He didn't want the deal to go ahead without him.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:44 | 5973367 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

he is just THAT DAMN GOOD. 1000X better than you anyway.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:45 | 5973369 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 That Frankensteinian looking ghool is obviously front running the ZIRP 'Scandanavian Central Banking' policies. Not only do you get paid to BTFD, you also get paid to borrow the monies to do so.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:53 | 5973392 Racer
Racer's picture

As I said in previous post... these 'deals' are all for the benefit of the board...

 the eLeeches

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:53 | 5973399 Yen Cross
Yen Cross's picture

 You've gotta be kidding me!

  "The transaction will take time to complete, during which my team and I will remain committed to BG and our shareholders, and to safely delivering our 2015 business plan," Lund said in a statement.

 We're into Q-2 '15 and this Bar Stool with four veritcal appendages has no game plan for '16 let alone '15. I hope this clown has a nice ICBM silo picked out for when rates go back up.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 19:55 | 5973407 blindman
blindman's picture

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing (Live At Knebworth)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlPjxz4LGak

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:02 | 5973427 blindman
blindman's picture

[KR741] Keiser Report: Rip Up Money, Get More ??? PROFIT!
Posted on April 7, 2015 by Stacy Herbert

Read more at http://www.maxkeiser.com/2015/04/kr741-keiser-report-rip-up-money-get-mo...

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:03 | 5973430 blindman
blindman's picture

Dire Straits - Money For Nothing - HQ - live Basel 1992
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEyhLxY9_o0
.
livin' the dreem

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:19 | 5973478 Amish Hacker
Amish Hacker's picture

OK, $43 million sounds like a lot to you and me, but Google's new CFO recently got a $70 million package that included a $5 milion bonus just for signing. (Yes, like a shortstop.) Given that, I'm sure Mr. Lund feels grossly undercompensated.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 20:28 | 5973503 Robinhood
Robinhood's picture

It just doesn't matter, it's only share holder money. Muppet slaughter. At this point in time, sadly, I don't think I wll ever be willing to own an equity again. 

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 21:28 | 5973688 Stormtrooper
Stormtrooper's picture

Don't Brit companies have Corporate Boards that must approve a company sale?  Or are they rubber stamps like in the Usta-be-USA.

Wed, 04/08/2015 - 21:09 | 5973621 Fed-up with bei...
Fed-up with being Sick and Tired's picture

Made 13K today on a single short trade.  I AM UNDER-PAID!

Thu, 04/09/2015 - 01:39 | 5974300 DipshitMiddleCl...
DipshitMiddleClassWhiteKid's picture

i read somehwere on here that the reason there is such high CEO pay is because all these guys know the house of cards we know as global finance is coming to an end soon, so it's kind of like grabbing whatever you can while you still can

 

 

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