Ethics for ethics’ sake, money for heaven’s sake. Jean-Sébastien Jacques lost his job as chief executive after Rio Tinto blew up a sacred Aboriginal site. We learnt on Monday that his exit was cushioned by a 20 per cent rise in remuneration in 2020.
The enthusiasm of most investors for environmental, social and governance rectitude will not extend to selling Rio shares. Only a downturn in China’s steel market could change their minds about this bulletproof miner.
Jacques was not the only one to get a pay bump last year. Rio decided any taint from a regulatory investigation into payments to a consultant working on a Guinean iron ore project had faded. The miner released A$17.6m (US$13.9m) in deferred bonuses last year to another former chief executive, Sam Walsh.