Eni shareholders clear the way for CEO to record-breaking fifth term

Eni shareholders approved Wednesday the appointment of?board members proposed by the Italian government. This will allow Claudio Descalzi, the CEO at the state-controlled group to serve a record fifth term.

The majority of shareholders who attended the annual meeting approved Descalzi’s reappointment as well as the replacement of current chair Giuseppina Di Foggia with the former Terna CEO. This is a level of 51.38%. Eni's proposal for a sharp increase in the chief executive's salary by 2026 after nine years without a pay rise was also approved, despite ISS, an influential proxy 'advisor', urging shareholders to vote against it.

Descalzi was proposed for reappointment by the Italian government last month. The Italian government controls Eni, with a direct and indirect stake totaling just over 33 percent.

The executive's career has been built at the Italian energy company as an expert in upstream?and exploration with a special focus on Africa.

Descalzi is the longest-serving CEO of Western listed oil majors. Patrick Pouyanne (CEO at TotalEnergies since October 2014) is not far behind. Di Foggia, who was appointed chair of Eni last month, agreed to give up her claim to 8.6 million euros (7.3 million euros) in severance pay from Terna after being pressured by Prime Minister Giorgia Melons to do so.

(source: Reuters)