Rio Tinto boss's pay rises in spite of profit slump
Tom Albanese, chief executive of mining giant Rio Tinto saw total pay, perks and bonuses soar from £2.11 million to £9.04 million despite underlying profits dropping by 39% in 2009.
Albanese had his basic pay cut slightly but picked up £1.2 million in short-term and £6 million in long-term bonuses. Finance director Guy Elliott's package jumped from £409,000 to £6.2 million.
The pay packages were announced as a Chines government report held off from blaming Rio Tinto for the collapse last year of a $19.5 billion tie-up with state-owned Chinalco.
The report to China's state council blamed economic forces and a powerful public relations campaign by BHP Billiton for the failure of what would have been the country's biggest offshore investment.
Chinalco's vice-president, Lu Youqing, today said: "The case is over. We have analysed it already. It is a normal business activity and not every activity has to be a successful one. Also, an unsuccessful one is not necessarily a bad thing."
"What we are thinking now is what to do next to develop the company, not struggle with the past."
Rio Tinto had no immediate comment on the report and BHP declined to comment.
