By TAKUFUMI YOSHIDA/ Staff Writer
August 1, 2020 at 07:00 JST
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the first decline in eight years in the number of board members in Japan whose annual remuneration topped 100 million yen ($932,000), a survey showed.
The number in fiscal 2019, which ended in March, was 488 board members from 239 listed companies, down sharply from the record high of 571 from 281 companies in the previous year, according to Tokyo Shoko Research, a private credit research firm.
“Many companies’ business performances worsened, leading to a trend to reduce payments for board members,” a Tokyo Shoko Research official said.
The largest payment amount in fiscal 2019 was 2.259 billion yen for Junji Takashima, former chairman of Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., who died last autumn. The figure includes his basic payment of 65 million yen as well as his retirement pay.
The second highest payment was 2.113 billion yen for Marcelo Claure, vice president of SoftBank Group Corp., followed by 2.073 billion yen for Christophe Weber, president of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co.
The top 10 included six foreign board members.
The disclosure of board members’ remuneration exceeding 100 million yen started in fiscal 2009.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. had the most board members with remuneration above the 100-million-yen level, with 10, followed by eight each at Fanuc Corp., Tokyo Electron Ltd., Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui & Co.
Bandai Namco Holdings Inc., Mitsui Fudosan Co., and Nomura Holdings Inc. each had seven board members above that level.
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Junji Takashima, former chairman of Sumitomo Realty & Development Co., died last autumn. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
