Gold producer Endeavour Mining is set to recover over $29 million in pay and awards from its former CEO, Sébastien de Montessus, who was dismissed this month for alleged "serious misconduct" linked to a multimillion-dollar "irregular payment."
London-based Endeavour announced that de Montessus, who had led the FTSE 100 company since 2016, would be required to forfeit $29.1 million (£22.9 million) in remuneration. As the highest-paid FTSE 100 CEO in 2021, de Montessus will not receive any salary, pension, benefits, bonus, or share awards for the 2023 and 2024 financial years, amounting to $17.6 million. Additionally, the remuneration committee invoked a "clawback" for 2021 and 2022, totalling an extra $11.5 million.
Part of this sum will be offset against previous long-term incentive plan awards, but de Montessus is personally responsible for repaying $2.7 million. Endeavour announced de Montessus's immediate departure earlier this month and disclosed an investigation into whistleblower allegations regarding his conduct with colleagues. Following the announcement, Endeavour's shares experienced a 12% decline, making it the largest decliner on the FTSE 100 for that day.
Endeavour Mining, which operates four mines in West Africa, including in Senegal, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso, explained that the investigation into the irregular payment pertained to a $5.9 million instruction by de Montessus, discovered during a review of acquisitions and disposals.