(Ottawa) Shopify shareholders have approved the e-commerce giant’s executive compensation plan.
Consulting firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis had recommended shareholders vote against the plan, which could see the company distribute millions of dollars in salaries and stock and option grants to its top executives .
ISS says the plan involves “significant problematic compensation practices,” including a proposal that would simply give Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke a major grant of stock options, equivalent to about $20 million US for each of the last three years.
The firm also disapproves that the company granted COO Kaz Nejatian US75 million in stock options and restricted stock units with no performance conditions in lieu of his annual stock grant of 2024.
Glass Lewis doesn’t like the plan because the consulting group says it involves paying Shopify executives slightly more than executives at companies it considers peers, even though the company has slightly underperformed its peers.
Just under 78% of Shopify shareholders voted in favor of its executive compensation plan. This is lower support compared to the previous five years, when support averaged 94%.