New Sanofi Chief’s “Welcome Bonus” Slammed

French pharmaceuticals producer group Sanofi has come under fire from French government ministers over a welcome bonus planned for its new CEO.

Olivier Brandicourt, who moves to Sanofi from Bayer at the beginning of April, could pocket a one-off "golden handshake" of €4 million on top of his salary of €4.2 million euros a year.

A spokesman for the French government called the package "incomprehensible." Sanofi is France's largest publicly listed drugmaker.

The company said the former physician would be paid a fixed salary of €1.2 million a year in addition to a performance-related amount targeted at 150% of that, with a cap at 250%. He also would get stock options and performance shares.

Brandicourt's €4 million golden handshake on top of that was billed as compensation for loss of benefits at Bayer and will be split between 2 million when he starts in April and the rest in January 2016 if he is still in the job.

Executive pay is frequently a touchy subject in France, even at investor-controlled companies like Sanofi, where the government has no direct say in pay packages. The Socialist government has set limits on executive pay for public sector companies.

"Drugs are reimbursed by taxpayers, so it's all of the French people who pay into the health system and reimburse drugs who are going to pay the golden handshake," senior government minister Segolene Royal said in a TV interview.