Becoming a Russian Oligarch After Rebirth
Chapter 645 Super High Salary_1

Chapter 645: Chapter 645 Super High Salary_1

Wang Ye’s appointment as Chairman of Yukos Group was directly decided at the board meeting.

None of the shareholder representatives had any objections. After the board meeting, an announcement would be sent out by the headquarters to all group employees to inform them of the change, and things would be settled.

There are no plans for any ceremony. After all, the group is facing a major crisis, and both Khodorkovsky and Wang Ye preferred a low profile.

However, as the new Chairman, it was necessary for the shareholder representatives to discuss and decide on the relevant salary package.

This was different from when Khodorkovsky was the Chairman.

To Wang Ye’s knowledge, Khodorkovsky’s salary was not high. It was only $2 million per annum. He was not even making as much as some of the group’s Vice Presidents.

Of course, it’s not that Khodorkovsky was "charitable and didn’t seek any return." Instead, personal salaries are subject to sizable taxes, and the higher the income, the higher the tax rate...

These super-rich individuals like them mainly received modest salaries and they avoided heavy taxation through dividends and bonuses.

In Russia, personal income tax is actually not very high. There are only two tax brackets - 13% and 15%.

Those who earn less than five million rubles annually only pay a 13% tax.

But since one could save, people like Khodorkovsky who receive billions of US dollars from dividends annually would find it quite painful to pay a tax of 15%.

As such, they used various ways to dodge taxes legitimately.

The $2 million annual salary of Khodorkovsky was justifiable.

Looking at people like Boss Qiao and his ilk, as well as Musk, whose annual salary was just $1 each, they did not look elegant.

The reason why Khodorkovsky received such a low salary was that he held the most shares in Yukos. Especially prior to Wang Ye’s appearance, the company was almost equivalent to Khodorkovsky’s personal company. Therefore, there was no concern whether the salary was higher or lower.

As for people like the Vice Presidents, they were essentially part of the "high salary workers." Naturally, it wouldn’t be okay if their paychecks were too modest.

But now that Wang Ye was taking over as the Chairman, the situation had changed from the past.

In the existing Yukos Group, the shares were considerably scattered.

The largest shareholder, Wang Ye, held only 35% of the shares.

The remaining shareholders held between five and twenty-five percent each.

Thus, Wang Ye’s salary couldn’t be just a gesture. It had to be significant!

Besides, running Yukos Group in the future won’t be easy. There were likely waves of difficulties on the horizon, and as the Chairman, Wang Ye needed to bear a significant risk.

Therefore, it was Khodorkovsky himself who proposed a high salary for Wang Ye.

His basic salary alone was as high as thirty million US dollars annually!

If the group’s performance was good and reached the operating targets set by the board, he could get a bonus of up to one hundred million US dollars...

Khodorkovsky explained it this way.

"Yukos Group is now starting to go international, so naturally, it needs to align with the world’s top companies in various aspects.

At a minimum, the salaries of our Chairman and President should exceed the industry average.

To my knowledge, the Presidents or CEOs of companies like Shell, Exxon, and Mobil, have very high annual salaries. They all start at several tens of millions of dollars initially.

We don’t want Yukos to be inferior to them.

Plus, I believe that Mikhail’s abilities justify this salary."

It was quite clear that he was openly securing benefits for his nephew...

The other shareholder representatives were aware of this, but they chose to agree because compared to Yukos Group’s massive annual profits, this tiny salary wasn’t anything significant.

Moreover, they all had reason to believe that under Mikhail’s leadership, Yukos Group would achieve even better results.

After all, what had happened over the past year had proven this fact.

The Yukos Group’s domination of the Russian oil industry certainly could not have been achieved without Mikhail’s efforts.

The acquisition of the Siberian Oil Company laid the foundation for an unassailable monopoly.

Then, he promoted the Russia-Japan Oil and Gas Cooperation, securing a super large order for the group company, guaranteeing the next ten or even twenty years of business.

As for the minor current difficulties, everyone was still optimistic.

Besides, the base salary was only thirty million US dollars. They could only get the maximum bonus of one hundred million US dollars if they met the annual growth objectives.

So, shortly after taking over as Chairman and President of the Yukos Group, Wang Ye received a high salary package.

Excluding dividends from stock ownership, just the salary and bonus could amount to a maximum of one hundred and thirty million US dollars annually!

...

This board meeting mainly introduced a few new shareholders, discussed Wang Ye’s succession as Chairman, and the issues of export rights and public listing of the group.

First, Wang Ye introduced the latest situation to the shareholder representatives.

It was about what happened at the Economic Committee yesterday. He had already discussed these with Khodorkovsky the previous night, but it was the first time the other shareholder representatives would be hearing about it.

After Wang Ye finished his introduction, everyone reflected in their own ways.

"President Mikhail responded well, buying us a reasonable amount of reaction time. The group restructuring paperwork will be completed quickly. Also, with BlackRock’s help, we will apply to list in the United States! If this happens, we may not need to do any additional work, and the Ministry of Energy will likely admit defeat."

Khodorkovsky lauded.

He had already discussed the plan to list in the United States with Wang Ye the previous night.

Wang Ye had also agreed with this.

Going public had its pros and cons, and many genuinely profitable companies may not necessarily want to go public.

Yukos Group was one such company. It had long become a giant oil company, but it had always delayed doing an initial public offering (IPO).

There was no particular need for it.

Many companies intended to raise funds through listing in order to take their companies to the next level.

Some other companies listed to inflate their company’s market value, thereby allowing some shareholders to cash out...

The Yukos Group didn’t lack money and didn’t need anyone to cash out, so naturally, there were no grounds to list.

Besides, who wouldn’t want to keep their golden goose tightly in their grip? Why would they need to share the money by going public?

But now, the situation had changed. The shares began to disperse, some foreign investors were introduced, and the company potentially faced some unknown risks.

Going public could increase the company’s ability to withstand risks.

If it was a private company, others could mess with it as they pleased without worrying about anything.

But what if it was a large public company?

On top of that, a company listed overseas. This would definitely make people think twice before targeting it.

They would also need to consider the effects on international public opinion.

Maybe at that time, some "reckless teenagers" could take you to the International Court. Even if you ignored it, it would still seem unsightly no?...