Unicredit boss Andrea Orcel has, it can hardly be said otherwise, a run: On Friday a court in Madrid ruled that the head of the Italian banking group was entitled to a payment of a total of 67.8 million euros from Spanish rival Santander. Orcel, 58, and the bank had been fighting over compensation since Santander decided a few years ago to drop his planned appointment as CEO because they could not agree on the salary package. The judges now decided that the offer to Orcel was a binding contract, which is why he was entitled to the compensation. Orcel originally asked Santander for up to 112 million euros.
It wasn’t until Thursday that today’s Unicredit boss also had his new strategy for the Italian banking group presented: Revenue and profit should increase significantly, costs should decrease – on the one hand through more uniform and digital processes, but on the other hand also through significantly fewer staff. At the Munich subsidiary Hypo-Vereinsbank (HVB) alone, the bottom line is that a good 1000 jobs will be lost. Orcel, on the other hand, promised the Unicredit shareholders rich distributions: They should receive a total of 16 billion euros in the next three years. The price rose accordingly, the share was more expensive on Friday than it had been for almost two years. Orcel should also benefit from this again – after all, part of the remuneration of top managers is usually based on the company’s performance.