“It doesn’t shock me that an automotive genius won this,” reacts Michel-Edouard Leclerc

The president of the Leclerc group compares the remuneration of the boss of the Stellantis automobile group to that of a footballer like M’Bappé, two “geniuses” in their respective sectors according to him.

Michel-Édouard Leclerc does not say he is shocked by the income of the CEO of Stellantis. Carlos Tavares obtained validation from shareholders of the increase in his remuneration, which could reach 36.5 million euros in 2023, or nearly 100,000 euros per day. According to the boss of the Leclerc stores, guest of franceinfo on Thursday April 18, Carlos Tavares “he’s a genius, he’s a M’Bappé of the automobile” SO, “if it doesn’t shock you that a footballer earns twice as much, it doesn’t shock me that an automobile genius wins that”.

Concerning low salaries, Michel-Édouard Leclerc believes that the decision of Florent Menegaux, general director of Michelin, to offer a “decent salary” for his 132,000 employees cannot apply everywhere. “I don’t think we can generalize, because it [Florent Ménégaux] only talks about salary, not dividends, nothing else… So I think there are a lot of presentation effects” in Michelin’s proposal, which therefore wishes to pay its employees between 1.5 and 3 times the minimum wage.

Better redistribute wealth

“We can do better” in terms of remuneration and social justice, he recognizes, but for him, it is mainly “the purpose of taxation, to redistribute” wage inequalities. He therefore sees no problem in “people are worth a lot and earn a lot of income”. The idea is rather to then “redistribute that to those who do not have the capacity to earn as much”. He estimates that “every four or five years, the Court of Auditors should review the scales [d’imposition] to be able to redistribute”.

If he does not attack the salary of the boss of Stellantis, he does however tackle the subsidies affected by the group and recalls that its profit for 2023 is 18.6 billion euros. According to Leclerc’s boss, “the State says that there is no more money in the coffers, that it is over whatever it costs but to ensure the ecological transition, we are putting in the pot to improve electric cars”, while “the French were hit by significant inflation for three years”.

“Let us stop subsidizing people who are rich, or companies who are rich, [afin que l’État] continues to support people who are poorer.”

Michel-Édoard Leclerc

on franceinfo

Asked about his own salary level, he says he earns “a few hundred thousand euros per year, which is a lot compared to ordinary people and which allows me to do interesting things on a cultural level”, evoking in particular the launch of a foundation in Landerneau, in Finistère.