COMPANY COMMENT
A way to end Naspers executives’ free ride
It seems unfair then that executive pay is tied to the performance of this fantastic investment
It’s no secret that Naspers’s ordinary shareholders are unhappy with the company’s remuneration policy and some want to see a radical shake-up. "I think for management to get options on the full Naspers performance is not a true reflection of value creation," one shareholder says. "Tencent is a passive shareholding … value creation is really in the rump of Naspers." The spectacular growth of Naspers has been fuelled almost entirely by its stake in Chinese internet operation Tencent. In fact, Naspers’s share price is 98% correlated to Tencent’s, according to some analysts. It does seem unfair then that executive pay is tied to the performance of this otherwise fantastic investment. One idea being punted is that management should be remunerated partly through a long/ short equity policy. The idea is that management would benefit when Naspers’s share price rises more than Tencent’s, with pay based on long positions in Naspers stock and short positions in Tencent. It’s an aggressive sug...
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