Former Volvo CEO to receive generous pay-off

Former Volvo Cars CEO Stefan Jacoby, who left his post after two years due to ill health, will not be leaving empty handed. According to company policy he is entitled to some 8 million kronor ($1.2 million) in severance pay.

• EU green lights Volvo and Dongfeng merger (8 May 13)
• Volvo posts biggest loss since financial crisis (25 Apr 13)
• Volvo Cars expected to post major losses (18 Apr 13)

“That is what it says in the annual financial report but I won’t comment on Jacoby’s terms,” said Volvo spokesman Per-Åke Fröberg to news agency TT.

According to the annual report, members of the Volvo board are entitled to a year’s full pay as a golden parachute.

Calculated from Jacoby's wages from 2010 and not counting any potential increments for 2011, he should be getting some 8 million kronor, according to Swedish business paper Dagens Industri (DI).

In October, Håkan Samuelsson, former chairman of German truckmaker MAN, was named the new Volvo CEO, taking over from Jacoby who had suffered a stroke in September.

In a statement issued shortly after he fell ill, Jacoby wrote that it was a minor stroke, which restricted mobility of his right arm and to some extent of his right leg.

At first he was expected to be able to return to work after a month or so. However, at the beginning of October there were rumours indicating that there were rifts within the company.

Reuters news agency reported on a rumoured conflict between Jacoby and board chairman Hans-Olov Olsson, citing anonymous sources.

However, Olsson denied the rumours in an interview with TT, saying that though there were of course discussions in the boardroom among the top layer of Volvo officials, there was no open conflict.

TT/The Local/rm
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