At the height of his career at Vinci, a French construction giant, Antoine Zacharias, its chairman, had a salary of several millions, a lavish pension and stock options worth €25om. On one occasion the French financial police visited Vinci's headquarters to investigate the firm's purchase of furniture for a luxurious Paris townhouse bought for his use. In 2006 Mr Zacharias was forced out and left with a generous severance package, but he sued the company for E∪D81m for allegedly preventing him from exercising some stock options. The case, notorious in France, was finally closed two weeks ago when a court ruled against him.rnBosses in Europe should take heed. Even when performance is outstanding-Vinci's shares went up ninefold during Mr Zacharias's nine years at the top of the firm, and its revenues more than tripled, to E∪D26 billion ($33 billion)-opinion has turned squarely against big pay packages. Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission's "Eurogroup" of finance ministers, recently called excessive pay a "social scourge" and demanded action.
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