Belgium puts limits on new Belgacom CEO salary

The Belgian government is set to end excessive annual salaries of CEOs working for semi-public companies, beginning with head of telecom Belgacom. The new maximum yearly compensation will be limited to 650,000 euros, with the yet-to-be named new Belgacom CEO given a base salary of 500,000 euros with the possibility of being bumped up with a 30 percent bonus.

Belgacom’s last CEO, Didier Bellens, received a cool 2.4 million annual compensation, an amount that did not sit well with the current socialist government.

As Belgacom is only partly publicly owned, the new rate will still exceed heads of state-owned businesses. However, the possible bonus will only be paid based on performance. The new CEO will also be exempt from stock options and severance pay will be limited to a maximum of a year’s salary.