The news of the record 60 million euro severance pay that Novartis will pay into the pockets of the outgoing number one Daniel Vasella has caused an outcry throughout the country – Minister Sommaruga: "We are mad" – In two weeks the referendum which aims to put a ceiling on the salaries of managers: we are moving towards the "Yes".
Even peaceful Switzerland has its troubles. The stone of the scandal, in this case, is the super-liquidation that the pharmaceutical company Novartis will pay to the outgoing number one Daniel Vasella, an at least inappropriate severance pay of 72 million francs (about 60 million euros), which caused a wave of indignation throughout the country.
"Madness", defined the Socialist Minister of Justice and Police, Simonetta Sommaruga, while the president of the Swiss Confindustria Rudolph Wehrli increased the dose: "I understand that everyone is indignant, on the other hand I am too". Novartis shareholders were also enraged, who threaten legal action, and during next Friday's meeting, which promises to be fiery, they will try to block this payment.
To further complicate an already intricate picture, the fact that the news of the super-liquidation of the fifty-nine-year-old Vasella has arrived two weeks away from a referendum, to be held on March 3, which aims to put a ceiling on the abusive salaries of managers.
The serious risk is that this severance pay has provided the necessary emotional boost to supporters of the yes, led by the small businessman Thomas Minder, who, according to some newspapers, has Vasella to thank precisely if, at the moment, it would seem that the 57% of Swiss voters are in favor of the salary cap for managers, despite the fears of business circles who fear that such a law could push the best managers to emigrate en masse to other countries. The president of the liberal party Philipp Müller is quite clear on the matter: "It's as if he had shot us in the foot," he said, speaking of Vasella.
Le Matins
FIRST online – February 18, 2013
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