How Unilever’s fatcat boss took home nearly £10MILLION last year – and went on anti-Brexit marches
Paul Polman is the Chief Executive Officer of Unilever, who has reportedly asked for a 10 per cent pay rise on household favourite products
THIS is the Dutch fatcat behind Unilever's 10 per cent price hike who claims he is "embarrassed" to earn nearly £10million A YEAR.
Paul Polman claims he is "ashamed by how much he earns" - yet wants to raise prices of household favourite products for supermarkets, which could hit the pockets of hard-working Brits.
Polman, who earns £1.3 million-a-year as a base salary before huge bonuses and expenses, tried to scare people into voting to remain in the EU by saying prices would rise if the UK left.
Polman shared a picture of an anti-Brexit march he appeared to take part in after the EU vote to leave and threatened to raise prices if Britain voted out.
The multi-millionaire, who has a £6.5million house in London's Chelsea, now appears to be following through with his anti-Brexit demand as the pound remains on rocky ground.
Polman became embroiled in a price row with Tesco after the supermarket giant refused to stock products such as Marmite, Hellmann's mayonnaise and Colman's mustard when the company demanded the extra cash.
Unilever - which is worth £112.7 billion - claims the decision came alongside the group's third quarter results, which showed a rise in sales thanks to price increases.
Polman has previously claimed he is "ashamed about the amount of money he earns" and claims executives should not be motivated by salary.
Despite receiving a 24 per cent pay rise in 2014, Polman told the Washington Post: "If you would pay me double, I am not going to work twice as much, because I am already probably maximising my tame available."
He added: "People think if they don't get a salary increase or if they don’t earn a lot of money, they are not being seen as good performing CEOs."
Unilever's Chief Finance Officer today said the prices of up to 200 popular products will rise as a result of the pound falling.
Speaking alongside the group's third quarter results, Graeme Pitkethly said: "In the UK, which accounts for 5% of turnover, prices should start to increase to cover the cost of imported goods due to weaker sterling."
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Remain-loving Unilever bosses threatened before the referendum to hike prices up if a Brexit vote won - in a bitter "extortion" tactic that will hit the pockets of hard-working Brits.
He said the row will be "resolved very quickly" and said other customers have agreed to the hike in prices - but this could come out of hard-working Brits' pockets when supermarket inflates prices.
Pitkethly joined Unilever this year, taking over from former CFO Jean-Marc Huet.
The executive earns a basic salary of £625,000, with an extra fixed allowance of £200,000 and other bonuses and benefits.
Pitkethly's predecessor took home £3.6 million in 2015 alone.
Despite the CFO's suggestion the row will be resolved soon, a Tesco source has told The Sun the supermarket giant is unwilling to pay the extra 10 per cent.
The company has now been accused of exploiting hard-working Brits and using the Brexit vote as an excuse to inflate prices.
One well-informed retail source told The Guardian newspaper: “Unilever is using Brexit as an excuse to raise prices, even on products that are made in the UK.”
The stand-off has left the supermarket facing a shortage of household brands, including Hellmanns mayonnaise, Marmite Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Surf washing powder, Knorr stock cubes and Pot Noodles.
The move is understood to have hit online sales rather than products in store.
Shoppers trying to buy items from Tesco's website on Wednesday were met with the message "Sorry, this product is currently not available".
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