Ocado | Ocado investors revolt against HUGE exec pay

Ocado shareholders rebelled at an annual meeting over the directors’ remuneration policy and the “value creation plan” - a scheme that could see the CEO Tim Steiner collecting a massive £100million if he triples the company’s share price over the next five years.

Due to a series of deals last year, Ocado’s shares were high performers last year with a series of deals with technology leaders internationally, as well as the US grocer Kroger, which propelled the company into the FTSE100. It now has a stock market value of £9.6billion and has signed a joint venture with Marks & Spencer.

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The stock has risen almost sixfold in the last year and a half, resulting in a handsome pay package for Steiner. However, the proposed remuneration policy was rejected by almost 25% of shareholders in their annual conference, which shows that although business is good, the investors aren’t happy with the reward scheme given to the CEO.

Andrew Harrison, Chair of the remuneration committee at Ocado, said: “The Board recognises that some shareholders voted against our remuneration proposals…[we] are committed to consulting on the formation of the future remuneration policies.” This is a deep blow to Steiner, who quit his Goldman Sachs job to try and cash in on the dot com surge and who turned the company into a stock market favourite.