Up until 2007 the stock market was booming and most shareholders were happy to nod through sky-high pay packages for senior executives.
Since the 2008 crash fund managers have struggled to get good returns and small shareholders have watched their nest eggs shrink but executives continued to supersize their pay.
The surprise is not that shareholders are revolting now but that it has taken so long. The latest casualty of that revolt, Andrew Moss, has stepped down as chief executive of insurers Aviva after a majority of shareholders voted against the company's remuneration report. He follows Sly Bailey of Trinity Mirror and David Brennan of AstraZeneca. Others, including Bob Diamond of Barclays, have suffered bruising criticism for what are perceived as egregious reward packages while so many are struggling financially.
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