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The recently resigned Norwegian CEO Jacob Schram and former CFO – now CEO – Geir Karlsen, have each been paid a double-digit million amount in a so-called “retention bonus” this year. The writes E24.
According to the newspaper, the new and hitherto unknown bonus was adopted this year and paid out as part of Norwegian leaving the bankruptcy protection at the end of May.
Former chairman of the board Niels Smedegaard confirms this and points out to E24 that Schram and Karlsen have had the same bonus in terms of size, terms and conditions.
DN receives from sources with knowledge of the case confirmed the information about the million bonuses of Jacob Schram and Geir Karlsen.
“Retention bonus” is an incentive scheme where bonuses are paid to key people in companies that are in challenging financial situations. The goal of the bonus scheme is to preserve key people in the company through challenging times.
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Niels Smedegaard resigned as chairman of the board of Norwegian on 4 June this year. He has been chairman of the board since May 2019 and was involved in hiring Jacob Schram, who took over the Norwegian top job in January 2020.
Had to go during the day
On Monday, the unexpected news came that the new board of Norwegian has chosen to fire CEO Jacob Schram and replace him with CFO Geir Karlsen.
Former chairman of the board of Norwegian, Niels Smedegaard, confirms that the top management of Norwegian has been paid a double-digit million amount in May this year (Photo: Per Thrana)
It was stated in the report that the board and Schram negotiated the final settlement, but that they could not agree.
Schram has a nine-month notice period and will, according to Monday’s announcement, “support the board full time” until the end of March 2022.
– I can not comment on this type of question, Schram writes in an SMS to DN on Wednesday after being asked about the bonus.
The former top manager of Norwegian was brought in at the end of 2019 to lead a company that would continue to grow. It attracted attention then that Norwegian hired a manager who had no background in aviation, but who had extensive experience from the petrol station company Circle K, where he was European manager.
Schram wrote in a text message on Monday that he was very surprised by the message from the board.
– The board’s decision to fire me came as a great surprise to me, he wrote. (Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and / or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link, which leads directly to our pages. Copying or other use of all or part of the content may only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
Eva Grinde: – More surprising that Schram got the job than that he has to leave today – But it must feel quite unfair, DN’s commentator thinks. 03:07 Published: –
