THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
MARCH 16, 2010, 6:47 A.M. ET By Lananh Nguyen and Jeffrey Sparshott Of Dow Jones Newswires
LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) said Tuesday it made a $7.6 million severance payment to the former head of its gas and power division last year, making her the highest-earning executive at the Anglo-Dutch oil major in 2009.
Linda Cook resigned as an executive director of the company on June 1, soon after Shell appointed Peter Voser as chief executive. Cook, one of the most senior women in the global oil industry, was a top contender for the post and had worked for Shell for 29 years.
In addition to the severance payment, Cook also earned a base salary of $1.4 million and a performance bonus of $1.54 million, according to the company’s annual report Tuesday.
Along with other benefits, her total earnings were $9.1 million, outpacing CEO Voser.
Voser’s earnings rose 22% in 2009 to $4.4 million.
Voser, who became CEO in July 2009, replacing Jeroen van der Veer, earned $3.6 million in 2008 while serving as the company’s chief financial officer. The earnings include Voser’s salary and performance bonus.
Shell proposed in February changes to how it pays its executive directors in an attempt to assuage concerns that led shareholders to reject its remuneration package last year.
“In my view, the most significant of these changes are that we have committed not to use upward discretion on share awards without prior consultation with major shareholders, we have updated the metrics for the incentive plans and we have ended the practice of free matching shares in our deferred bonus plan,” said Hans Wijers, chairman of the Shell’s remuneration committee, in a letter to shareholders.
Van der Veer was the second-highest paid executive last year, with total earnings at $4.88 million.
-By Lananh Nguyen and Jeffrey Sparshott, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20-7842-9479; [email protected]
(James Herron contributed to this report.)
This website and sisters royaldutchshellplc.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
