Anglo American Bonus Plan Scrapped After Investor Backlash

Published: 08 December 2025. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online.

London-listed mining giant Anglo American has dramatically withdrawn controversial plans to pay its top executives multimillion-pound bonuses linked to the successful completion of its proposed $50 billion merger with Canadian rival Teck Resources. The sudden U-turn came just hours after intense criticism from major investors and proxy advisers who branded the scheme excessive and poorly structured.

At the heart of the row was a proposal to award chief executive Duncan Wanblad a potential share bonus worth £8.5 million if the deal went through. Other senior directors stood to receive at least 62.5 per cent of their 2024 and 2025 long-term incentive awards immediately upon completion, regardless of broader performance targets. Anglo American had argued the payments were necessary to keep management fully focused during a transformative transaction that demanded exceptional leadership. The company also stressed the need to retain key talent through what it described as a period of significant upheaval and change.

Yet shareholders were far from convinced. Leading proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services supported the merger itself but sharply criticised the bonus structure. In its voting guidance, ISS stated clearly that linking variable pay tied directly to deal completion “is not considered good practice” and warned that the scale of the proposed payouts effectively undermined other performance conditions. Several large institutional investors echoed these concerns, warning that the plan risked rewarding executives simply for doing a deal rather than creating genuine long-term value.

On Monday morning Anglo American confirmed it had listened to the feedback and decided to scrap the entire incentive scheme. A short statement from the company said shareholders had “raised a number of concerns” and that it would now enter fresh consultations on executive pay ahead of next year’s annual general meeting. The climbdown marks a rare and embarrassing reversal for a board that only weeks ago had strongly defended the payments as both fair and essential.

The decision lands less than twenty-four hours before shareholders in both Anglo American and Teck Resources are due to vote on the merger itself. If approved, the transaction would create one of the world’s largest copper producers at a time when global demand for the red metal is surging, driven by the shift towards electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure and data centres. Copper has been dubbed the “metal of electrification” by analysts who predict chronic supply shortages in the coming decade.

The proposed tie-up follows a turbulent two years for Anglo American. In 2024, the company successfully fought off a £39 billion hostile takeover approach from Australian giant BHP. Chief executive Duncan Wanblad responded by announcing a radical break-up plan that included the potential sale of the historic De Beers diamond business and a rethink of the vast but loss-making Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine in North Yorkshire. When BHP returned with an improved offer earlier this year, Anglo again rejected it and instead pivoted towards the merger with Teck. City takeover rules now prevent BHP from making another bid for at least six months.

For Teck Resources, the deal offers an exit from its own recent takeover drama. In 2023 the Canadian miner rebuffed a £16.6 billion bid from Glencore, choosing instead to split its coal and metals businesses before agreeing terms with Anglo American.

If completed, the Anglo-Teck combination would rank among the biggest transactions in mining history, surpassed only by Glencore’s $90 billion takeover of Xstrata in 2013. The new entity would control some of the planet’s most prized copper assets in Chile and Peru, positioning it strongly to capitalise on the green-energy boom.

Investors appeared to shrug off Monday’s bonus controversy. Anglo American shares dipped just 0.9 per cent in early London trading yet remain up more than 40 per cent since January, reflecting broad confidence in the strategic rationale behind the merger.

The episode serves as a fresh reminder of the growing scrutiny on executive pay in the UK. Even as companies pursue ambitious deals, shareholders are increasingly willing to challenge rewards they see as misaligned or overly generous. For Anglo American’s board, the coming months will involve delicate negotiations to rebuild trust on remuneration before facing investors again at the 2026 AGM.